BY F^OSS 6, HOUGHUiON, D.D. 

♦ 

WOMEN OF THE ORIENT, 

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Baptism of Christ. 



John the Baptist, 



THE 



FORERUNNER OF OUR LORD: 



HIS LIFE AND WORK. 



BY 

ROSS C. HOUGHTON, D.D., 

Member of The Society of Biblical Archceology of London^ elc.y 
Author of *' Women of the Orient," " Ruth the Moabitess," etc. 



APP 1 \m^n. I ^ 



NEIV YORK: HUNT &> EATON. 
CINCINNA TI : CRANSTON df STOIVE. 



B5z45G 

■Hg 



Copyright, 1889, by 

HUNT & EATON, 

New York. 



TO 

the memory of my honored father, 
xme: re:ve:re:^n3d royj^^l moughxon, 

ONE OF THE PIONEERS 

WHO PREPARED THE WAY FOR THE PRESENT PROSPERITY OF THE 

CHURCH IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEW YORK; 

WHO FOR MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS WAS A SELF-SACRIFICING, CON- 
SCIENTIOUS, FEARLESS MINISTER OF THE LORD JESUS ; 

AND WHO, UNTIL THE VERY LAST, WAS SIGNALLY SUCCESSFUL IN HIS 
APPOINTED WORK, 

THIS VOLUME IS REVERENTLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 

Introduction 11 

I. The Announcement 33 

II. Hebron and the Hill Country of Judah 55 

III. Mary's Visit to Elisabeth 79 

IV. John's Birth 89 

V. John's Boyhood and Early Training 103 

VI. A Nazarite 1 14 

VII. In the Wilderness 121 

VIII. Manner of John's Life in the Wilderness and its 

Influence upon Him 133 

IX. John's Public Ministry 149 

X. The Spirit and Power of Elias 1 66 

XI. The Jordan Valley and the Beginning of the Gospel 176 
XII. John Preaches Repentance 184 

XIII. John's Congregation 1 94 

XIV. John's Attitude toward the Pharisees AND Sadducees 202 
XV. A Model Preacher 211 

XVI. The Kingdom of Heaven 220 

XVII. The Baptizer 232 

XVIII. The Baptism of Jesus 245 

XIX. The Threefold Testimony 266 

XX. Increasing and Decreasing 282 

XXI. The Arrest 291 

XXII. The Imprisonment 303 



10 Contents, 

Chapter Page 

XXIII. John's Messengers to Jesus 313 

XXIY. Christ's Eulogy of John *. 325 

XXY. The Birthday Feast 334 

XXYI. The Execution 344 

Conclusion 359 



Illustrations* 



Baptism op Christ Frontispiece. 

Palestine in the Time op Christ. Facing page 6 

Jerusalem 31 

Hebron 60 

Abraham's Oak 68 

Bethlehem 83 

Wilderness of Judea 1 24 

Ford of the Jo'?dan 177 

Nazareth from the North 248 



INTRODUCTION. 



IVTO man is entitled to a place in the highest order 
IM of greatness solely because he has given expres- 
sion to great thoughts, or consecrated his energies to 
great purposes, or set up before himself and his fol- 
lowers a pure and inspiring ideal, or even lived an 
exalted life and lifted many other men up to his own 
high level. The greatest men in the world's history 
are those who have so embodied and vitalized a great 
truth as to set in motion an intellectual, moral, or 
spiritual force w4iich has revolutionized the w^orld 
and made their good influence perpetual. To this 
highest rank few men have attained ; but among the 
few John the Baptist is fairly entitled to a place. 

He was not made by the times ; he did not repre- 
sent the social, or intellectual, or moral life of his 
age. He was not projected into the life of his nation 
by some impulse that was already being felt by men. 
He was not the mouth-piece of some mighty popular 
enthusiasm ; he did not gradually mount to the lead- 
ership of a forward movement of humanity which 
began before he was born. Only in a very limited 
sense was he ever a debtor to his fellow-men. . Under 



12 Introduction. 

direct divine guidance he either announced new 
truths or put life into dead ones. He inaugurated 
and, for a brief time at least, directed a spiritual 
movement which has been the expression of all that 
is highest and best in every succeeding age. 

To be sure, he was only a herald, but a herald of 
the most momentous event the universe has ever wit- 
nessed; an event of which the greatest of the old 
prophets could only speak as far in the future, but of 
which John was commissioned to say: *' Behold the 
Lamb of God ; the Light of the world ; the Power of 
God unto the full salvation of men and nations." 
'" John went before Christ as the plowman goes 
before the sower. There is but little chance, even 
for the best seed, until the subsoil is torn up and ex- 
posed to the action of the air and light. In strictest 
loyalty he ran before Messiah the Prince to proclaim 
the speedy coming of the promised peace and good- 
w^ill on earth, to command that all obstructions be 
removed, that all enemies surrender. He moved 
through a moral wilderness wherein, like rank and 
noxious weeds, flourished the basest passions and the 
most fatal errors. It w^as the work of a brave, strong, 
faithful man to assail these formidable evils single- 
handed and alone. But John did it, like the moral 
hero that he was. He did it without any hesitation, 
and without any doubts. He joined battle in down- 
right earnest. He called men and things by their 
right names. /He acknowledged the '^ sovereignty of 



Intkoduotion. 13 

conscience," and commanded all men to follow his 
example. With voice and form and manner all in 
his favor, he appealed to the moral sense of the people 
with the impetuosity of early manhood, with the con- 
sciousness of a divine call and a divine message. 
From the first he attracted and controlled men. He 
made them haste to put away their sins. He not 
only proclaimed the near approach of the kingdom 
of heaven, but he made men long to become citizens 
therein. He demolished men's cherished ideas and 
notions, and exposed their secret faults, but still they 
clung to him and prayed to be taught the truth. He 
made no mistakes in estimating the characters of 
those he addressed. Hypocritical men came to him, 
some even in sacred vestments, seeking for personal 
gain in the new movement, witli w^iich it was easy to 
connect themselves by a shallow confession and a 
transient rite; but they soon found their error, for 
this divinely gifted mind-reader seemed to understand 
the very thoughts and intents of their corrupt souls. 
He neither shunned their hatred nor courted their 
favor; but as the skilled woodman fells the tallest 
trees, so he struck the heaviest blows at their might- 
iest sins. The keen-edged, glistening ax, as wielded 
by a strong and fearless arm, was therefore the sign 
and symbol of this rugged pioneer. Matt, iii, 10. 

When John w^as born centuries had elapsed since a 
real prophet had appeared in Israel. The ancient pro- 
phetic scrolls were read and expounded by the vener- 



14 Inteoduotion. 

able doctors of the law ; but the oldest of them had 
never seen a prophet, neitlier had lie, even in the 
earliest remembered days of his childhood, spoken 
with any man who had heard a prophet's voice. The 
oracles of God were cherished as the most precious 
treasure ever bestow^ed upon a nation, but the di- 
vinely inspired foreteller was, at best, onlj^ a proud 
tradition. Time was when the favored nation re- 
ceived instruction and guidance from one especially 
commissioned as the representative of its invisible but 
divine king; but now the devout men of Israel 
mourned that the function of the prophet had so long 
remained in abeyance. 

No wonder, then, that the people, with a true in- 
stinct, recognized the royal representative, and, in de- 
fiance of the arguments and authority of the scribes, 
welcomed John when he manifested a prophet's con- 
tempt for the proud usurpers of the throne and the 
priesthood, and spoke with a prophet's authority and 
a prophet's convincing directness. In the universal 
acknowledgment which this unique, unheralded, and 
seemingly unauthorized man at once secured, the 
voice of the people was, indeed, the voice of God. 

Though John was the last of his line, and with 
him the law and the prophets expired (Luke xvi, 16), 
he enjoyed the peculiar distinction of being the only 
prophet whose coming and whose official work were 
themselves of old the subject of prophecy. Isa. xl, 3 ; 
Mai. iv, 5 ; Matt, iii, 3. Nearly all his predecessors 



Introduction. 15 

had, in utterances more or less explicit, proclaimed 
the coming of the Bridegroom, but for him was re- 
served the signal honor of being chosen as the friend 
of the Bridegroom, to listen to the living Bride- 
groom's voice. 

It would not be very easy for us to understand and 
explain the full character of John's work as the fore- 
teller and forerunner of our Lord, neither can we 
presume to estimate its full value in the development 
of the divine purpose ; but we have an illustration of 
it in the fearless blow which, at the very beginning 
of his public activity, he struck at the false national 
idea of the coming Messiah's kingdom. With start- 
ling clearness of expression he prepared all sincere 
and devoutly inquiring minds for a just conception 
of a Messianic kingdom in full harmony with divine 
promise and prophesy. 

it was a long time from the advent of John to the 
day of Pentecost, and the herald may have been as 
ignorant of the full nature and scope of the new 
kingdom as were the apostles themselves before the 
enlightening powder of the Holy Spirit fell upon 
them. But the rubbish was to be cleared away, and 
the ground prepared for the coming of the Master- 
Builder to set in place the foundation stones of the 
true temple of God among men. As to the nature 
of this preliminary work John was thoroughly in- 
formed. With a prophet's clear eye he saw, and 
with a prophet's resistless authority he proclaimed, 



16 Introduction. 

that all worship of Satan in the exaltation of national 
pride and power must cease.^ In the new kingdom 
force and fraud and selfishness and insincerity and 
the spirit of caste must be outlawed. Sham piety 
must be branded as high treason, and. purity of heart 
proclaimed the one essential qualification for either 
citizenship or leadership. Hence Pharisees must 
give place to fishermen, repentant publicans, and 
true Israelites. Matt, ix, 9 ; iii, 7 ; iv, 21, 22 ; John 
i, 43-51. The accident of birth, the inheritance of 
an honored name, or success in mounting to a high 
place among men, can give no claim to consideration. 
Matt, iii, 9. To confess and give up sin, to be 
clothed in humility, to deal justly and charitably with 
all men, and to be sincere toward God, these qual- 
ities, and these alone, can make one a prince where 
all are princes, and glad to serve where all are serv- 
ants. Eev. i, 6 ; v, 10 ; Matt, xx, 27. 

Says ISTewman Smyth : " The great doctrines of 
the Bible are vividly revealed through its characters 
and their w^ork, and in the progress of the whole 
history. In this book for all peoples and ages the 
most abstract and impalpable truths seem taken, as 
it were, from the very air, from distant realms of the 
spirit, and clothed with flesh and blood ; they are re- 
vealed walking with men, dwelling in their homes, 
made concrete and visible in the person of patri- 
arch, prophet, apostle ; and they are summed up and 

* Matt, iv, 9 ; Ecce Eorno, pp. 20-23. 



Introduction. 17 

declared, in the vernacular of every man's heart, in 
the Word made flesh." ^ With a prophet's fidelity 
to fundamental truth, John especially emphasized re- 
pentance, and in this more than any thing else we 
have the warrant for his coming. 

In dress, in mode of life, in fiery eloquence, in 
fearlessness, in almost contemptuous disregard of con- 
ventionalisms, in passionate vehemence of purpose, in 
that directness of appeal which is only inspired by a 
great heart burdened with a sense of great need, and 
in the overmastering immediateness of his call, John 
was, indeed, the very personification of repentance. 
He stands in human liistory as the startling embodi- 
ment of this grace. He has so vitalized a great truth 
as to be forever identified with it. At the very por- 
tal of the kingdom of God among men forever stands 
this chosen one of God to keep watch and ward over 
its first great principle : his voice a trumpet call, his 
w^ord a command, and his testimony a perpetual in- 
spiration to righteousness. 

His ministry, introducing and running into that of 
Christ, made both complete. Jesus had no sins of his 
own to mourn over, no tendency to sin to subdue, no 
tyrannical passions to wrestle down, no bad habits to 
put away. It was, therefore, impossible for him to 
illustrate in his own person and life the grace of re- 
pentance. He could teach repentance by precept, 
but not by practice. The proclamation of the new 

* Old Faiths in New Light, p. 37. 



18 Introduction. 

Gospel was, therefore, complete because Jesus could 
point to liis forerunner, who, with the consciousness of 
personal need and the clear vision of an inspired seer, 
set before men, by eloquent word and holy deed as 
well, this initial virtue of the Christian life. John 
and Jesus, the sinner and the sinless One, the prophet 
and the High-priest of the new dispensation, together 
give us the only adequate portraiture of Christian 
character from its inception to its full form and per- 
fect finish. 

John's work was short and of a transitional char- 
acter, but his influence is as permanent as the great 
movement he so successfully inaugurated. Measured 
by the immense moral power it exercised, his minis- 
try was most complete and satisfactory. In the im- 
mediate effects of his preaching, and in the results 
which followed, the greatness of which is attested in 
each of the four Gospels, he accomplished all that he 
could have either desired or expected. Jesus classed 
him among the very greatest of the prophets. Matt. 
XI, 9-11. The arrogant Pharisees did not accept his 
doctrines, although they were spell-bound by his elo- 
quence and attempted no defense against his reproofs ; 
but the people accepted both him and his teachings 
with unquestioning faith and passionate devotion. 
Mark xi, 30-32. The national heart and conscience 
were in sympathy with him in his daring revolt against 
the ritualism of the priests and the legalism of the 
scribes. Says Fairbairn: '^ The priest and the scribe 



Intkoduction. 19 

had inade the people of God tlie people of form and 
privilege ; the prophet appears that he may command 
the people of form and privilege to become the people 
of God. National was possible only through individ- 
ual regeneration. The mass could be made holy only 
by the units becoming holy. And the change must 
be immediate. The God who had borne so long with 
their evil would bear no longer. (Tiie kingdom of 
heaven w^as at hand ; its dawn stood tip-toe on the 
mountain-top. And the king was a judge, coming to 
do his own will, not the will of the Jews. He was 
coming, fan in hand, to divide the chaff from the 
wheat, to gather the one into his garner, to burn up 
the other w^itli unquenchable fire. John's spirit was 
thus essentially ethical, and his attitude one of essen- 
tial antagonism to the unethical spirit of Judaism. 
He evoked from the Old Testament the spirit that 
inaugurated the New, and so became the meeting- 
point of both, a symbol of the dawn, which is at once 
the death of the night and the birth of the day. So 
the man and his mission must be studied if the Christ 
is to be understood.""^ 

But John was more tlian a prophet, and greater 
than any other of his order, illustrious as some of 
them had been. For this estimate we have the high- 
est possible authority in the statement of Christ him- 
self, wlio, when John's messengers to him had de- 
parted, turned to the multitude, and said concerning 

^ Studies in iJie Life of Christy pp. si; 12. • : - 



20 Introduction. 

the Baptist : ; '^ What went ye out for to see ? A 
prophet ? vea, I say unto you, and more than a 
prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Be- 
hold, 1 send my messenger before thy face, which 
sliall prepare thy way before thee." Matt, xi, 9, 10 ; 
Mai. iii, 1. John was more than a prophet because 
he not only foretold the coming of the Messiah but 
was his actual precursor. 

All the prophets of the old period prophesied 
of the new era, and some of them predicted its 
character, and even designated its time ; but no one of 
them was permitted to usher it into existence. This 
signal honor was reserved for John, who, '^ as prepar- 
ing the way for the Messiah, represented the highest 
perfection of the old covenant." It is as though 
Christ had said : '^ You liave looked upon one of tlie 
greatest of men ; greater than Elijali, or Isaiah, or 
Malaclii, whose prophetic words I have just quoted ; 
as great as Moses, or Samuel, or David ; but you do 
not, because you cannot, fuU}^ understand liis char- 
acter." 

Jolm was more than a prophet because, like 
Moses, he stood in very intimate relations with the 
manifested God, who spake to liim not in a " vision" 
or a " dream," but " mouth to mouth," without any 
mediation or reserve, and he saw the " similitude [or 
human form] of the Lord." JS'um. xii, 1-10; Exod. 
xxxiii, 11 ; Deut. xxxiv, 10. 

He was more than a prophet by virtue of a special 



Introduction. 21 

fact which is most tersely set forth by Dr. William 
Hanna : '* Of the greatest of his predecessors, of 
Moses,, of Elijah, of Daniel, it was true that they 
filled but a limited space in the great dispensation 
with which they were connected ; their days but a 
handbreadth in the broad cjcle of ev^ents with which 
their lives and labors were wrapped up, the individu- 
ality of each, if not lost among, yet linked with, that 
of a multitude of compeers. But John presents him- 
self alone. The prophet of the desert, the forerunner 
of the Lord, appears without a coadjutor, a whole dis- 
tinct economy in himself. To announce Christ's ad- 
vent, to break up the way before him, to make ready 
a people prepared for the Lord, this was the specific 
object of that economy which began and ended in 
John's ministry." 

Jesus sets a higher value upon John than on a mere 
prophet, because he not only had the prophetic 
vision, but the stronger, grander mission which is 
found in actual contact with the great moral duties 
and brave participation in the great moral battles of 
life. The seer had his place, and it was an important 
one ; but John came to usher in a period which was 
to witness the greatest of all conflicts, in which 
men of deeds were to be of far greater value than 
men of visions, and he was a most worthy model for 
all such. He was the very foremost of that mighty 
line of moral heroes who, fully comprehending the 
significance of the conflict . in, which they were en- 



22 lKTROr>t7CTiON. 

gaged, were to take the kingdom of heaven as if bj 
force.^ 

The character of John has an additional interest 
and value from the fact that he is exhibited to ns in 
the New Testament as a priest. He belonged to that 
particular line of the descendants of Levi to which 
the priestly functions were, by divine ordination, re- 
stricted. To be sure, we never find him directing, or 
even assisting in, the temple service, yet it is very 
clear that the well-known fact of his belonging to the 
priestly class gave him a peculiar power over the 
people, especially in his denunciations of wrong and 
his vehement w^arnings against divine wrath. 

He must have been regarded as an authorized 
teacher, and this explains the reverent spirit with 
w^hich the people received his instructions and his re- 
proofs. None but a priest could have effectively, or 
even safely, spoken as he did against the perversions 
of Scripture, the desecration of sacred office, the per- 
nicious ritualism, and the willful abuse of authority 
which characterized the religious leaders of the na- 
tion. None but a priest could have so effectively 
pointed out the religious errors of the day, and the 
gross national misconception of a true theocratic 
kingdom. Like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, he had been 
selected from the priestly order to fill the higher 
office of prophet, and this fact no doubt gave special 
energy to his utterances. He felt that he spake with 
* See Lang* 6n Matt xi, 12. 



Introduction. 23 

a double authority, and had a double claim to be re- 
spectfully heard. 

Like all the best of his line, his mind was espe- 
cially alive to the transcendent importance of the 
great truths he was called to teach. The nation had 
been led astray by the priestly class, and now, as a 
representative of that class, divinely ordained to rec- 
tify its mistakes, he felt impelled, against all opposi- 
tion, at all cost of personal ease, popularity, or even 
safety, to zealously devote every energy to the task 
of convincing his countrymen of their danger and 
leading them to the one way of escape. 

There was a striking similarity between John's 
character and the true nature of the priestly office. 
His most prominent moral qualities were a thorough 
knowledge of sin, a dominating conviction that peni- 
tence and moral regeneration were the crying need 
of the times, and a passionate love of sincerity and 
true righteousness. So far as character and motive 
are concerned, John was an ideal priest. 

And then he was a true representative of the 
people. All that he said or did w^as in their name, 
and with a most stubborn fidelity to their interests. 
Hence he took upon himself the duty of rebuking, 
in most impassioned terms, their tendency to think 
that the priests could not only perform certain official 
services as their representatives, but could as well do 
all their praying and repenting and serving God for 
them ; and he spared no pains to impress upon their 



24 Introduction. 

minds and hearts the essential fact that each man 
must repent and pray, and " bring forth fruits meet 
for repentance" for himself. With great care he 
taught the people that while the priests were in a 
very important sense their representatives they were 
not such in the sense of relieving them from the 
most solemn and inevitable personal moral respon- 
sibilities. Thus most effectually he prepared them 
for the speedy doing away altogether of the glory 
and office of the Aaronic priesthood, and the estab- 
lishment of the new kingdom, with its new and more 
perfect economy, in which all true believers are citi- 
zens with equal rank and rights, and are proclaimed 
a "royal priesthood," offering themselves as "living 
sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God," as becometh 
those who are exalted to be " kings and priests unto 
God and his Father." 1 Pet. ii, 5-9 ; Eom. xii, 10 ; 
Eev. i, 6. 

John's courage was like a divine inspiration, and 
therefore indomitable. He dared to set himself in 
opposition to a whole nation. He denounced the 
guilty passion and unholy ambition of a prince who 
held over him the power of life and death, and re- 
buked the extortions of a rich tax-gatherer, as 
promptly and as fiercely as he proclaimed the wrath 
of God against sinners of lesser note or influence. In 
his fearlessness he knew neither race, position, power, 
nor precedent. With him to recognize the presence 
of wrong was to instantly and with all his might an- 



Introduction. 25 

tagonize it. It is not, therefore, marvelous that from 
the very first he was successful. 

Every man who had a spark of honor or manliness 
glowing within him admired such lofty fidelity to 
principle, such utter forgetfulness of self in a pas- 
sionate effort to promote the well-being of others. 
The dangers and severe discipline of his desert life 
had well fitted him for this peculiar mission. " What 
to him," asks the eloquent Edward Irving, "was a 
scowHng Pharisee, or a mocking Sadducee, or a fawn- 
ing pubHcan, or a rough soldier, or a riotous mob? 
These were jocund, cheerful sights to one who had 
roamed among the wild beasts of the desert, and in 
the midst of them laid down his head under no can- 
opy and with no defense but the canopy and defense 
of the providence of the Most High. Around a man 
who can despise accommodations and conveniences, 
and deal with nature in ancient simplicity and inde- 
pendence, and move among her social and religious 
institutions like a traveler from another world, free 
to judge and censure and approve, as having nothing 
himself at stake — around such a man there is a moral 
grandeur and authority to which none but the nar- 
rowest and most bigoted minds will refuse a certain 
awe and reverence. And when such a personage as- 
sumes to himself divine commission, and publishes 
new truth with divine authority, and rebukes all 
wickedness, and scorns all consequences, he takes, by 
the natural right of the wiser, the bolder, and the 



26 IxTRQDyCTION. 

better man, a high place above those who feel them- 
selves enslaved and enshaelded by customs which they 
despise." "^ 

'^John's lofty liumility was a fit companion virtue 
to his courage, for in the exercise of both he retired 
before a greater Prophet and a greater Priest with a 
simple dignity which made his proud confession, that 
he had lived to be superseded, the most impressively 
eloquent of all his utterances. 

As the herald of the new kingdom, John was the 
first leader of the people to rise above the mean ideas 
of race which every-where prevailed among his coun- 
trymen. The Jews not only thought their religion 
was the best, and looked with contempt upon all 
foreign gods, but they regarded the religion of the 
true God as their exclusive heritage. The Hebrew 
religion was solely for the Hebrew nation. Though 
there might have been now and then a proselyte to 
the Hebrew faith from among less favored peoples, 
still it never entered the Hebrew mind that any other 
nation or nations ought to be, or could be, converted 
to a worship instituted for the especial enlightenment 
and salvation of the elect sons of Abraham. But 
John, although he did not reach the broad cath- 
olicity of the great apostle to the Gentiles, in 
his preaching and in his baptism made no narrow 
distinctions. Publicans and sinners, as well as scribes 
and Pharisees ; Roman soldiers from the camp and 

* Edward Irving's Works, iii, 21, 41. 



I>^TEOI)UgTION. 27 

Arabs from the desert, as well as priests from the 
temple and courtiers from the palace of Herod, were 
all alike exhorted to repentance, and formally ac- 
cepted as believers in the King and kingdom to 
come. 

S05 through the unique liberality of this bold 
herald, a new light dawned on the national mind, in 
the idea that a perfect religion is superior to country, 
to caste, to blood, and to laws. 

Joined to his catholicity was a most wonderful 
self-abnegation. Like Moses, he entirely forgot him- 
self and his unbounded opportunities for personal ex- 
altation as a magnetic leader of men in his consum- 
ing zeal for the welfare of the people. He preferred 
the crown of martyrdom to tlie crown of authority, if 
thereby he could best exalt the truth and save the 
nation. He never once referred to his own claims. 
His whole thought and anxiety seemed to be of his 
message, and how best to persuade men to heed it. 
He was simply the agent, the " voice ; " but the word 
uttered was of God, and demanded instant faith and 
obedience. To the oft-repeated questions, What art 
thou ? Who art tliou ? he promptly replied : " What 
or who I am is of no importance, but the salvation of 
the nation depends upon heeding what I say." In 
the exercise of this virtue he unconsciously assumed 
the attitude where he not only was the most effective 
as a messenger, but where his own greatness appeared 
to the best advantao^e. By this he became insensible 



28 l2sTRODUOTION. 

to the strength of any and all opposing forces, never 
once thought of a possible defeat, and was content 
to be forgotten, or to die, since the greater One 
and the greater cause were sure, in the end, to tri- 
umph. 

At last the day came when a solemn stillness fell 
upon the banks of the Jordan and the mountains of 
Judea. The great preacher had disappeared. His 
trumpet voice, with its deep tone of purest wdsdom, 
was heard no more. Men looked in vain for his 
majestic presence. If not in the end victorious, he 
was sublimely invincible. He had grappled in a life- 
or-death struggle with the spirit of the times, and 
who shall dare to say he was not triumphant? 

The great heart that beat in unison with all human 
needs and right desires was stilled. The strong but 
weary man was at rest. No human being ever more 
richly deserved honor of men and angels than John ; 
for he had, so far as his limitations would permit, 
finished his work and done his full part for his coun- 
trymen as well as for his Grod. 

The new era had been gloriously ushered in. Jesus 
was now the central figure, and, turning to review 
the field, he withheld not honor w^iere honor was 
due, but frankly said of John the Baptist, his chosen 
and trustworthy forerunner : " He w^as a burning and 
a shining light ! " Whedon says : " Some lights are 
shining, but not burning. John was both." 

One of the dukes of Liineburg caused the figure of 



Introduction. 29 

a burning lamp to be stamped upon his coin, with 
this -inscription : "Ministering to others, I consume 
myself." So John was all aglow with tlie lire of a 
wise and holy zeal. Burning, he was consumed in 
the people's service, and for the Master's glory. 

Some who "were willing for a season to rejoice 
in his light " (John v, o5) as mere sensation-lovers 
rather than truth-lovers, wlien the excitement of the 
moment and tlie charm of the preacher's voice had 
departed, deliberately rejected his testimony and 
rejected Christ. But in the hearts of many honest 
admirers his eloquent words and inspiring influence 
remained. The divine leaven was at work. The di- 
vine kingdom had come, and John was justified in all 
his works and words. 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ANNOUNCEMENT. 
A. U. C. 748 or 749. 

Luke the evangelist, evidently translating from 
an Aramaic oral narration, or perhaps document,"^ 
gives US the only account of John's birth and the 
peculiar circumstances which attended that event. 
For four hundred years preceding this narrative God 
]iad not spoken to his people in vision or by miracle. 
Malachi had closed the old canon with the prediction 
that Elijah should be the immediate herald of the 
Christ, and now the first record of the new canon is 
the announcement of the true Elijah's advent. Light 
once more, and suddenly, shines out of darkness. 
Down-trodden Israel again lifts up lier head ; Jerusa- 
lem is once more the chief city of the earth, and the 
glory of the latter temple eclipses that of the former.f 
Hag. ii, 6-9. 

At this eventful period Herod, miscalled the Great, 
* Alford on Luke i, 5. f See page 31. 



34 John the Baptist, 

was king of Judea. He was the son of Antipater, a 
distinguished Iduniean general, who, by his own 
bravery and the favor of the Romans, had obtained 
supreme power over liis native Idumea."^ 

When but twenty-five years of age, Herod was ap- 
pointed by his father governor of Galilee, where he 
immediately became a favorite with the people be- 
cause of his brilliant achievements as a soldier and 
his skill in managing tJie affairs of that province.f 
By the further development of these qualities he 
afterward became king of Judea, a term which em- 
braced all Palestine, with Jerusalem for his new 
capital.:}: 

Herod the Great married ten wives, by five of 
whom there was posterity. By his w^ife Malthace, a 
Samaritan woman, he had two sons, Archelaus and 
Antipas, the latter of whom became tetrarch of 
Galilee, and plays a most important part further on 
in our narrative. During his eventful reign Herod 
expended vast sums of money in rebuilding the 
temple in more than its former magnificence, erect- 
ing gorgeous palaces, and otherwise adding to the 
splendor of his capital city. Though possessed of 
some admirable qualities, his chief characteristic was 
a selfish ambition which made him tyrannical, un- 
scrupulous, and unhesitating in the commission of 

* Josephiis, Antiq.j xiv, 1, 3 ; Wars of the Jews, i, 8, 9. 

f Joseplius, Antiq., xiv, 9, 2, and footnote, Whiston's translation. 

\ Josephus, Antiq,y xiv, chapters 14, 15, 16, 



The Announcement. 35 

any crime wliicli promised to further his desires. x\s 
old age approached, and some of his most cherislied 
plans miscarried, he became suspicious, cruel, and ex- 
tremely blood-thirsty, sparing not even his own house- 
hold in his insane rage. He put to death Mariamne, 
his most beautiful and celebrated wife, with his two 
sons by her, young men who were the innocent and 
accomplished favorites of the entire nation. Just 
live days before his own death he sent to execution 
his son Antipas. As this monster of iniquity, great 
only in crime, saw his end approaching, he caused 
the arrest of a large number of the most illus- 
trious citizens, and decreed that as soon as he had 
breathed his last they should all be beheaded, in 
order, as he said, that there might be mourning 
throughout the land at his death. "But a dead 
tyrant possesses little authority, and, of course, his 
barbarous order was never executed." ^ 

Luke spends no time upon the reign of Herod, but 
simply refers to it as a chronological introduction to 
a much more important event in history. Our at- 
' tention is at once turned away from the splendid 
debauchery of a notoriously wicked court to the hum- 
ble affairs of a family in semi-private life ; a family 
whose name is to be ever blessed, as Herod's is ever 
cursed. 

The temple seems at this time to have been under 
the control of a lifeless and even hypocritical priest- 

* Josephus, A7itiq., Books xv. xvi, xvii. 



•36 John the Baptist. 

hood. The prophetic spirit had been long silent ; but 
now that God was about to speak once more to the 
world he knew how to find and honor the one mem- 
ber of this corrupt body w^ho was still fit for his use. 
In perfect harmony with the spirit of the old theoc- 
racy, a priest was chosen to proclaim the immediate 
coming of the world's 'Messiah, and a priest's son was 
ordained not only to close the long line of Messianic 
prophets, but to inaugurate that series of wonderful 
events which culminated in Calvary, and Pentecost, 
and the historic Church of Christ. 

Zacharias was of the tribe of Levi, on which the 
office of the priesthood was entailed. He has been 
supposed to have been the high-priest, but of this 
there is no proof beyond the altogether insufficient 
testimony of the apocryphal New Testament.^ His 
name signifies " The Lord remembers," a meaning 
which was marvelously exemplified in the events now 
to be considered. His wife was Elisabetli, of the 
family of Aaron, and thus, with her husband, be- 
longed to the priestly rank, which was the most hon- 
orable nobility among the Jews, for Josephus says : 
"' As among different nations there are different sorts 
of nobility, so with us the sharing of the priesthood 
is token of illustrious rank." Notwithstanding the 
degeneracy of the times we are not surprised to be 
told tliat Zacharias and Elisabeth " were both right- 
eous before God, walking in all the commandments 
* The Protevangelion, ix, 5. 



The Announcement. 37 

and ordinances of the Lord blameless," for God's he- 
roes have always been born of worthy parents, care- 
fully selected and trained for the duties of their im- 
portant office. 

When King David made his preparations for 
building the first temple he divided the numerous 
descendants of Aaron, who were exclusively called to 
the service of the sanctuary, into twenty-four classes 
or orders, each of which ministered in the temple 
during a week. 1 Chron. xxiv. The descendants of 
Eleazar, Aaron^s elder son, formed sixteen of these 
classes or courses ; those of Ithamar, the younger son, 
only eight, that of Abijah being the eighth. 1 Chron. 
xxiv, 10. From the days of Solomon these twenty- 
four courses relieved each other weekly in the temple 
service. On the return from the captivity but four 
courses were left, which were again divided into 
twenty-four.^ Ezra ii, 36-39 ; vi, 18 The course of 
Abijah, being the eighth, it has been calculated, offici- 
ated April 17-23, and October 3-9. 

IM'othing w^as left to chance in the service of the 
sanctuary. The priests for each day in the week 
were selected from the class by lot. The lot also de- 
termined who was to perform each separate portion 
of the sacred service, and especially who was each 
morning and evening to burn incense before the 
Lord, for this oflfice w^as considered the most impor- 
tant and honorable of all. In this instance the lot 
* Josephus, AnUq.,y vii, 14, Y. 



38 John the Baptist. 

fell on Zacharias. It was probably the Sabbath, at 
the hour when all the congregation attended at the 
temple in the court of Israel and the conrt of the 
women, in front of the great altar on which the bleed- 
ing lamb was placed. In the holy place of the tem- 
ple were the golden table of showbread, the golden 
candlestick with its seven lamps, in allusion to the 
seven planets,"^ and the altar of incense in the center. 

Zacharias's associate supervised the sacrifice on the 
great altar of burnt-offerings without, while Zacharias 
himself, at a certain signal, came forth clad in his 
white sacerdotal robes, with covered head and naked 
feet, and, taking lire from the altar of sacrifice, he 
entered the holy place and laid it within the golden 
altar of incense. In tlie golden cup, called the censer, 
above the burning coals, he placed the fragrant gum 
especially prepared for the purpose (Exod. xxx, 
34-38) (which the Jews were forbidden to compound 
for private use), and soon the still air of the sanctu- 
ary was filled witli wreaths of smoke, typifying the 
acceptable prayers of devout souls, at this hour, not 
only in the courts without, but in every part of the 
land. Psalm cxli, 2 ; Rev. v, 8 ; viii, 3, 4. 

It was a most impressive place and moment. Mixed 
emotions of awe and exalted delight filled his pious 
soul as he poured out a fervent supplication for Is- 
rael before the Jehovah whose manifest presence once 
filled with glory the holy of holies. His official but 

* Josephas, Antfq., iii, 6, 7. 



The Announcement. 39 

cherished duty performed, he was about to leave the 
temple when the sacred silence was broken by the 
rustling of a celestial wing, and the old power of God's 
covenant grace was once more manifested to the 
anointed priest of Israel by the appearance of the 
angel Gabriel standing upon the right hand of the 
altar of incense, a position which in itself was a good 
omen for Zacharias. Mark xvi, 5 ; Acts vii, 55. Cent- 
uries had elapsed since such a celestial form had been 
seen in Israel, and although Zacharias, in common 
with all devout Jews, was waiting for and expecting 
the manifestation of God, still he was startled and 
troubled by w^iat he saw, and he even trembled with 
fear as he reverently awaited the pleasure of his heav- 
enly visitant. He had not long to wait, for soon the 
soft, sweet accents of GabrieFs voice were heard in 
the " Fear not, Zacharias," which sounded the key- 
note of the new dispensation. Luke ii, 10. The days 
of stately ceremonials and the worship of fear were 
ended, and a new morning of light and love had 
dawned upon the world. He that was afar off in the 
law was now to be brought nigh in the Gospel. The 
echoes of Sinai's thunders were to give place to the 
tender, loving accents of One who spake as never 
man spake. John vii, 46. 

With such a man as Zacliarias there could be no 
doubt as to the reality of what he now saw and 
heard, for to a devout Hebrew of tliat day there could 
be no more sacred, consistent, or welcome miracle than 



40 John the Baptist. 

that of an angelic visitation. In the history of his 
race he would recall the readiness with which the 
glorious heavenly messengers talked with the prim- 
itive pair in Eden ; or soiiglit tlie hospitality of Abra- 
ham's tent, leaving an abundant recompense for their 
shelter and food in the hope with which they filled 
the patriarch's heart ; or waited upon the visions and 
footsteps of Jacob ; or imparted wisdom and strength 
to Moses and the long line of faithful men who ruled 
the people in the fear of God. Nothing more rea- 
sonable than to believe that this manner of direct 
communication between the heavenly and the earthly 
life, though now for a long time unknown, would 
some day be revived. Such was the faith of Zacha- 
rias, particularly touching any revelations to the 
national leaders concerning the expected Messiah. 
He could not, therefore, he surprised by the coming 
of the angel, but only trembled that the divine mes- 
senger should be sent to him. Of this angelic visit- 
ation Dr. J. J. Van Oosterzee justly says : '' So many 
traces of divine wisdom are apparent in the narrative 
that skepticism itself has no exceptions to make, but 
to its miraculous character. In this case the appear- 
ance of an angel is especially offensive to the tastes 
and notions of modern criticism. This being the first 
account of the kind which we meet with in Luke's 
gospel, we may be allowed the following remarks. 
The existence of a higher world of spirits can as little 
be proved as denied by any a priori reasoning ; ex- 



The Announcement. 41 

perience and history can alone decide the point. 
Now it is certain, on purely historical and critical 
grounds, that angels have been both seen and heard 
by well-known and credible individuals ; and if this 
be so a higher world of spirits must exist. It has, 
indeed, been said (by Schleiermacher) that belief in 
the existence of angels has no necessary basis and 
support in the religious self-consciousness (or subject- 
ive experience) of the believer; but the question 
here is merely concerning the historical truth of 
bibhcal angelology, and not concerning the subject- 
ive experience it produces.^ Angels are not merely 
transient emanations, and effulgences of the divine 
essence (Olshausen) ; but personal, conscious, holy 
beings, related, like men, to the Father of spirits. 
God, being the supreme and absolute Spirit, is able 
to employ such Xecrovpytfcd TTvevfjLcjra in his service ; 
and man, having received a spiritual element from 
God, cannot lack the ability of perceiving, with an 
enlightened eye, the appearance of beings so nearly 
related to himself. It is not when the bodily eye has 
been directed to the material world, but when a 
higher and more spiritual organ has been developed, 
and the ear opened to the voice of God, in the hours 
of prayer and solitude, that angelic appearances have 
been perceived. This power of perception, pro- 

* It should not be inferred from the text that Schleiermacher de- 
nied the existence of angels altogether. He only denied the existence 
of Satan and the evil angels. — Philip Schaff, D.D. 



42 John the Baptist. 

duced by God himself, must be distinguished from the 
trance or vision, properly so called, wherein angels 
have sometimes, but by no means always, been per- 
ceived. Compare Acts x, 10 ; 2 Cor. xii, l^ff. The 
angelic apparitions were by no means the fruit of an 
overstrained imagination, but objective revelations of 
God, by means of personal spirits ; yet only capable of 
being received under certain subjective conditions.''"^ 
A Scottish divine has eloquently said in regard to 
the angel Gabriel's appearance to Mary, and the vari- 
ous other angelic appearances in connection with the 
life and death of our Lord : " Is there aught incredi- 
ble in this ? If there be indeed a world of spirits, and 
in that world Christ fills the place our faith attributes 
to him; if in that world there be an innumerable 
company of angels ; if the great design of our Lord's 
visit to this earth was to redeem our sinful race to 
God, and unite us with the unfallen members of his 
great family — then it was not unnatural that those 
who had worshiped around his throne should bend 
in wonder over his cradle, stand by his side in his 
deep agony, roll away the stone rejoicing from his 
sepulcher, and attend him as the everlasting doors 
were lifted up, when, triumphant over death and hell, 
lie resumed his place on the eternal throne. When 
the Father brought his first begotten into the world, 
the edict was, ' Let all the angels of God worship 
him.' Shall we wonder, then, that this worship, in 

* Commentary on Luke. 



The Announcement. 43 

one or two of its acts, should be made manifest to 
human vision, as if to tell us what an interest the 
Incarnation excited, if not in the minds of men, in 
another and higher branch of the great community of 
spirits? ... It was the Son of God w^ho brought 
these good angels down along with him. He has 
mediated not only between us and the Father, but 
between us and that elder branch of the great com- 
monwealth of spirits, securing their services for us 
here, preparing us for their society hereafter. He 
has taught them to see in us that seed out of w^hich 
the places made vacant by the first revolt in heaven 
are to be filled. He has taught us to see in them 
our elder brethren, to a closer and eternal fellow- 
ship with w^liom we are hereafter to be elevated. 
Already the interchange of kindly offices has com- 
menced. Though since he himself has gone they 
have withdrawn from human vision, they have not 
withdrawn from earthly service under the Redeemer. 
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to min- 
ister to them who shall be heirs of salvation ? Who 
shall recount to us w^herein that gracious ministry of 
theirs consists ? Who shall prove it to be a fancy, 
that as they.w^aited to bear aw^ay the spirit of Lazarus 
to Abram's bosom they hover round the death-bed of 
the believer still, the tread of their footstep, the 
stroke of their wing unheard as they waft the depart- 
ing spirit to its eternal home ? " "^ 

* Hanna's Life of Our Lord, 



44 John the Baptist. 

In sympatliy with the anxiety expressed in the 
countenance of the godly priest, Gabriel hastened to 
satisfy his awed but questioning soul : 

" Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; 

And thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, 

And thou shalt call bis name John. 

And thou shalt have joy and gladness ; 

And many shall rejoice at his birth. 

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, 

And shall drink neither wine nor strong drink ; 

And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his moth- 
er's womb, 

And many of the children of Israel shall be turned to the Lord 
their God. 

And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, 

To turn the hearts of the parents to the children, 

And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just ; 

To make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke i, 13-17. 

Thus Gabriel poured out the rich treasures of his 
heavenly message, in the beautiful and stately address, 
breathing the very spirit of the Old Testament writ- 
ings, and in exact accord with the thought and life of 
a consecrated priest of the Most High God. 

The great sorrow which rested upon the otherwise 
happy life of Zacharias and Elisabeth was well known. 
They had no son to comfort their old age, and to per- 
petuate their name and memory. They had been 
taught by their religion, and by the precepts common 
to all Oriental society, that children, and especially 
sons, were the greatest blessings which could be be- 
stowed by the gracious providence of God ; and that 



The Announcement. 45 

the lack of them was an ahnost unmitigated calamity. 
EacheFs words, " Give me children, or else I die " 
(Gen. xxx, 1), were upon the lips of every childless 
woman in Israel. Only by the birth of a child could 
the reproach of such be removed. Such an event was 
a warrant that the name of the father should not 
cease from among his brethren. Eastern nations 
generally seem to have always had this feeling, and 
it is still so strong among them that after the birth 
of a first-born son a father and a mother are no 
longer known by their own names, but as the 
father and mother of the child. " The new name 
thus adopted (for example, 'father or mother of 
John') is used not only in common parlance, but 
also on the gravest occasions, and even in legal doc- 
uments." ^ 

Their childlessness was, therefore, a great trial of 
the faith of Zacharias and Elisabeth. But they were 
both righteous before God, and they hnmbly bowed 
to his will as not only supreme, but best. They had 
prayed often and fervently that this stigma upon their 
otherwise honorable name might be removed, that 
their friends might no longer regard them as living 
under the direct displeasure of the Almighty (Gen. 
XX, 18 ; Hos. ix, 14 ; Jer. xxix, 32 ; xxxv, 19) ; but 
they had never doubted God's love, and had never 
murmured against his providence. If they had ever 
cherished a hope of the great blessing they seemed 

* Mill's Mblus, 119. 



46 John the Baptist. 

now to have calmly resigned it, and, in the decline of 
life, -happy in each other's faithful love, they were 
quietly and sweetly awaiting God's pleasure, while 
they trusted in the wisdom of his eternal purposes. 
The prayer of Zacharias, the priest, was now no longer 
for a posterity, that his name might not die in Israel, 
but, with every morning and evening sacrifice, his 
supplication was poured into the ear of the God who 
loved him for the " consolation of Israel." Not only 
in domestic and secret worship, but as a priest offici- 
ating in the holy place, he did not limit his petitions to 
mere personal requests, but his thoughts turned toward 
Jehovah's promises to his broken and despised people, 
and his soul went out in an agony of prayer for the 
coming of the Messiah, who alone could restore the 
lost glory of the temple and the faded splendor of 
David's throne. Often did he cry, in the words of 
the psalmist, which voiced the most cherished desire 
of his loyal soul, " O that the salvation of Israel were 
come out of Zion." Psa. xiv, 7. Such fidelity was 
rare in that degenerate age, and God did not fail to 
hear and honor his servant. A twofold promise now 
falls upon his eager ear, and is engraved upon his 
thankful heart. Not only shall the long-looked-for 
Messiah appear in his day, but he shall himself be the 
happy father of that Messiah's forerunner ; an honor 
which far surpasses the hopes of his most ecstatic 
visions. Zacharias indeed sought first " the kingdom 
of God and his righteousness," and, behold, all other 



The Announcement. 47 

things, even the earthly joy of a father, were added 
to him. Matt, vi, 33. 

The name of this son, divinely given in answer to 
prayer as well as in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, 
is to be John, which signifies God given^ or God is 
gracious. It is clearly intimated that he will not be 
honored of men, or occupy an exalted place in society, 
but, as becomes the precursor of the meek and lowly 
Nazarene, he will move in a humble sphere. Still, 
he is to be great in the sight of the Lord, and, there- 
fore, really great ; for, as Thomas a Kempis says, 
" Wliat thou art in the sight of God, that thou truly 
art." 

He is to be temperate, and even abstemious, as in- 
dicative of his separateness unto the Lord, and is to 
be filled with the Holy Spirit from his very birth, as 
one sent into the world for a special holy purpose. 
The proof of this shall be in his strange power as a 
reformer working in a corrupt age and amongst a de- 
generate people, turning men on every hand to 
repentance and righteousness. Such a manifest spirit 
and power shall rest upon him as shall make the 
people think indeed that Elijah, the romantic but 
mighty prophet of Ahab's day, has returned again to 
the earth. Thus in a literal fulfillment of prophecy 
a notable reformation shall break forth in degenerate 
Israel, and a reconciliation shall take place between 
the holy spirit of the olden time and the apostate 
present. Old Israel and new Israel shall clasp hands 



48 John the Baptist. 

across the middle ages of idolatry, hypocrisy^ igno- 
rance, and sin ; and so perfect at last shall be the 
reign of holiness and love that even the Gentiles shall 
rejoice in its saving power. 

Zacharias was a holy man, but his powers of faith 
were weakened by his adverse surroundings, and, for 
a moment, he did not credit the heavenly promise 
either in his head or his heart ; but forgetting the 
past power and glory of Israel's God, and unconvinced 
even by the splendor and supernatural knowledge of 
his angelic visitant, he asked for a sign or a proof that 
the wonderful announcement was really of God. The 
very greatness of God's goodness seems to have 
stunned his spiritual faculties. He had borne faith- 
fully and blamelessly the burdens and disappoint- 
ments of his long life of toil ; he had not murmured 
when the shadows fell upon his path or the clouds 
gathered above his head ; and yet, for the moment, he 
could not open his heart to the full sunshine of God's 
loving favor. 

Faith was to be the chief condition of the new 
covenant, the key-note of the new Gospel ; therefore 
it was needful that this early though characteristic 
exhibition of unbelief be rebuked, and even punished. 
The aged priest's temporary doubts were not per- 
mitted to frustrate even the slightest purpose of 
heaven, or to divert the divine mercy from its ap- 
pointed channel. His fault was not a great one. 
God, who looked upon liis heart, saw the purity of all 



The Announcement. 49 

his motives, and the penalty inflicted was, therefore, 
slight. It was not so much a punishment as a means 
of discipline. 

Prompt and startling came the answer to his doubt : 
" I am Gabriel," said the angel. " I stand in the 
presence of God ; and am sent to speak unto thee, 
and to show thee these glad tidings." This was an 
answer befitting the (Jignity of the archangel, and yet 
perfectly intelligible to a well-instructed priest, who 
at once recalled the heavenly messenger sent to the 
prophet Daniel (Dan. viii, 16 ; ix, 21), and recognized 
him as one deep in the counsels of the Godhead. 

'' And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able 
to speak, until the day that these things shall be per- 
formed, because thou believest not my words, which 
shall be fulfilled in their season." 

Since the word rendered speechless in Luke i, 22, 
signifies both deaf and dumb, we know that the ear 
w^hich refused the angel's message was now closed, 
and the tongue which ventured to speak the language 
of doubt and suspicion was forced to temporary si- 
lence ; and this not alone as a proof of the divine 
presence and power, but as a token of the divine dis- 
pleasure. Like halting Jacob, Zacharias was not only 
to be made familiar with the severe side of a heavenly 
visitation, but he w^as permitted to rejoice in its side 
of gracious blessing. God, through the affliction so 
patiently borne, at once reproved his servant's fault 
and revealed to him his own name and nature, which 



50 John the Baptist. 

is love. The trial became a sign to Zacharias and to 
others that the hope of Israel was drawing nigh. 

During this remarkable scene in the holy place, 
the people in the courts without were waiting to 
receive the priestly blessing before they dispersed to 
their homes. It not being customary for the priest to 
remain so long in the sanctuary, they feared that some 
misfortune had befallen him, as a sign of the divine 
displeasure for the improper performance of the 
sacred service, and therefore were not so much as- 
tonished at his strange appearance when he at last 
came forth. When they perceived that he was dumb, 
and marked the strange aw^e-struck look upon his 
face, they naturally supposed that it W'as the result 
of an angelic appearance, a supposition that was at 
once confirmed by the priest in the language of signs. 
Says Beecher : " We have no certainty whether this 
scene occurred at a morning or an evening service, but 
it is supposed to have been at the evening sacrifice. 
In that case the event was an impressive symbol. The 
people beheld their priest standing against the setting 
sun, dumb, while they dispersed in the twilight, the 
shadow of the temple having already fallen upon 
them. The old w^as passing into darkness ; to-morrow 
another sun must rise ! " * 

The divine communication which he received in 
the temple Zacharias was compelled to carry in 
silence, a treasure too sacred to be committed to un- 

* The Life of Jesus the Christ, vol. i, p. 1 4. 



The Announcement. 61 

holy hands. His great desire now was to reach his 
temporary home in the city, and reveal the secret to 
his faithful EHsabeth. As soon as the remaining 
days of his week of service were passed, they hastened 
to their residence in the hill-country of Judea, where 
the aged couple rejoiced together in the mercy of 
the God of Israel, w^lio had not forgotten to be 
gracious. 

Ehsabeth's retirement from the busy affairs of life, 
in the seclusion of her country home, for the space 
of five months, was not only typical of the fact that 
she was to become the mother of one sanctified and 
set apart from the world, but it furnished favorable 
opportunity for meditation, and a preparation of 
mind and heart for the great honor, and the great 
responsibility as well, which were to crown her 
righteous old age. 

With her faithful companion she saw that all the 
promises made to Israel touching the Messiah's fore- 
runner were about to be fulfilled tln^ough her, and 
her expectation must have been painfully ardent. 
Only by constant communion with God, through 
his word and in prayer, could she sustain her precious 
burden. 

Zacharias and Elisabeth were too well instructed in 
the Scriptures to have any sympathy with the unrea- 
sonable and fantastic expectations of the people in 
regard to a temporal reign of the Messiah ; still they 
could not fail to look forward with much anxiety, 



52 John the Baptist. 

not to say curiosity, to the final results of these strange 
events. Their faith was strong, their hope ecstatic, 
and their love for Zion was their daily inspiration. 
It was a time for deep heart-searchings, heart-long- 
ings, and anxious prayer for wisdom to nourish the 
precious life so soon to be intrusted to them. It 
would be no ordinary task to surround their cher- 
ished boy with a constant atmosphere of knowl- 
edge and holiness, in keeping w^itli liis anticipated 
career. 

The promise of a Messiah gave an especial charm 
and importance to honorable marriage and maternity 
among the Jews, and imparted to the work of training 
young children an especial dignity and sanctity ; 
hence every Hebrew woman could appreciate the 
triumphant joy of Elisabeth's farewell words as she 
disappeared from the busy scenes of the temple-city : 
" Thus hath tlie Lord dealt with me in the days 
wlierein he looked on me, to take away my reproach 
among men." Zacharias — that is, The Lord remem- 
bers — and EHsabeth — that is, God^s oath — become 
now most significant names, in view of all that 
had happened and was yet promised to the highly 
favored ones who bore them. 

Just here, also, we cannot fail to notice the marked 
similarity between the beginning and the end of the 
" old dispensation," or the '' preparatory kingdom." 
The birth of Jolm forcibly reminds us of the birth of 
Isaac. There is a most interesting accordance between 



The Announcement. 53 

Zacharias and Abraham on the one hand and Elisabeth 
and Sarah on tlie other. They were old when the 
promised son was born to them ; a son with whose 
advent were involved so many interests of vital im- 
port to Israel and to the world. In each case the re- 
markable birtli, which is " an exaltation of nature 
above nature," is foretold to the father by a special 
angelic messenger. In each case' those whom God so 
signally honored had passed through a very long 
course of training for the parentage of a man who 
was to occupy a most important place in the scheme 
of human enlightenment and redemption. Their 
spiritual graces had become beautifully matured ; and, 
above all, their faith had, as the result of rugged dis- 
cipline, become so vigorous that through it they re- 
ceived all requisite endowments for their necessary 
part in the fulfillment of God's gracious promises, a 
fact which was at once apparent in the admirable 
manner in which they heard and gratefully accepted 
the ''glad tidings of great joy." 

The hearts of Zacharias and Elisabeth throbbed 
in most befitting and deep sympathy with those of 
Abraham and Sarah as the grateful truth became 
familiar to their minds that the Jehovah who so 
graciously established his chosen people in the earth 
was now, as graciously, about to bring them to the 
highest fulfillment of their national hopes. 

There is, also, a significance which cannot escape 

us in the fact that, whereas in the beginning of 
4 



54: John the Baptist. 

the preparatory kingdom Sarah's faith was weaker 
than her husband's, at the close Elisabeth's faith was 
stronger even than that of an anointed priest of the 
temple ; as if to proclaim to the world that the days 
of woman's servitude, as " the weaker vessel," are 
ended, and that in the new and perfect era she is to 
stand by the side of man as his equal, as necessary to 
his spiritual as well as his physical completeness, and 
as fellow-heir with him of the grace of life. 1 Pet. 
iii, 7. 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 55 



CHAPTEK II. 

HEBRON AND THE HILL-COUNTRY OF JUDAH. 

Great historical events stamp a dignity and impor- 
tance on persons and places wliicli they did not before 
possess. Particularly is this true of persons and 
places identified with scriptural history, in which the 
grand purposes of the Almighty are so clearly 
wrought out. In the study of such events and sucli 
places we come at the true philosophy of all history. 
Hence it is with keen interest, and thought most sa- 
cred, that we now turn toward the hill-country of Ju- 
dah, and the particular city where the great forerunner 
first saw the light of day. 

In tlie first and also the final distribution of the 
lands of Palestine, Judah, being one of the most im- 
portant tribes, received not only a very large but a 
very valuable tract of country, witli the Mediterranean 
for its western boundary, and Simeon on the south, to 
stand like an impregnable bulwark between its fair 
fields and the fierce tribes of the great " wilderness 
of wandering." On the east was the desert district 
called the " Wilderness of Judea," separated from 
Moab by the Dead Sea and the river Jordan, and on 
the north was the territory of Benjamin, beginning 



56 John the Baptist. 

with the neighborhood of Jerusalem and Mount 
Jearim, and the tribe of Dan, with a band of brave 
and well-trained soldiers, established on the command- 
ing heights between Zorah and Eshtaol to defend the 
rich harvests of both Dan and Judah from the inroads 
of the Philistines. Josh, xv ; xix, 9 ; Judg. xiii, 25 ; 
xvi, 31 ; xviii, 12. 

The whole of tliis territory was divided, for con- 
venience of description, into three main regions. 
First, ^'the valley district," or the Shephelah: the 
broad belt lying between the high central region and 
the Mediterranean Sea. This was by far the most 
fertile portion of Judah. Here were the extensive 
grain-fields and olive-orchards and vineyards from 
which were gathered the enormous cargoes which 
Solomon sent to Tyre in payment for the material 
and skilled labor furnished by Hiram in the erection 
of tlie temple. 1 Kings v ; Acts xii, 20. Before the 
conquest this tract was held by the Philistines, and 
they were never completely dislodged by the men of 
Judah. 

The number of cities in this district, exclusive of 
the villages connected with them as dependencies, 
w^as forty-two. The modern towns which occupy 
some of those ancient sites are remembered by the 
traveler as most remarkable for the beauty of their 
surroundings. The rich gardens with their profusion 
of pomegranates and other fruits, the enormous and 
luscious oranges which '^gild the green foliage of 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 57 

their famous groves," and the far-stretching fields of 
wheat, are as attractive to tlie cupidity of tlie Turkish 
tyrants of the land to-day as they were to the maraud- 
ing Philistines in the times of Saul and David. 

Second, the "hill-country of Judah," stretching 
north and south between Jerusalem and the borders 
of Simeon, and east and west between the wilderness 
slopes of the Dead Sea and the valley district. It is 
an elevated region, with its entire surface thrown into 
undulations by countless hills, and yet preserving a 
general level in both directions. Its towns and vil- 
lages were numerous (Josh, xv, 48-60), generally 
perched on the tops of hills or on rocky slo23es. It 
was almost an impregnable district, as the approaches 
to it ,wxre very difficult and easily defended. 

The products of the soil were abundant. Rich 
valleys alternated with terraced hills. Corn, wine, 
oil, and fruits rewarded the husbandman's toil ; 
while the shepherd found abundant pasturage for his 
fiocks among the mountains on the east. 

Judging from the ruins which now meet the eye 
of the traveler in every direction, this hill-country 
must have been thicklv dotted with thrivino; towns 
and cities (Josh, xv, 48-60) ; while the groves of 
olive trees and the vineyards which still remain give 
a suggestion, at least, of the beauty and fertility of 
the land in the ancient days of its prosperity. There 
are no streams, except the torrents of the rainy 
season, but springs are now and then seen, and deep 



58 John the Baptist. 

wells are frequent. In the spring-time this whole 
region is covered with a rich carpet of wild-flowers 
of every variety and hue. 

The third division is the wilderness or the sunken 
district immediately adjoining the Dead Sea. This 
desolate tract is about ten miles wdde, from east to 
west, and from north to south extends the entire 
length of the sea. It is wild and barren, affording 
only here and there scant pasturage for sheep and 
goats, and has always been infested with fierce wild 
animals, while its caves and rocky fastnesses have 
afforded safe retreats for the w^orst of outlaws and 
robbers. 1 Sam. xvii, 34 ; Mark i, 13 ; 1 Sam. 
xxii, 1, 2. 

Each section of this region had its local name : as 
''the wilderness of Engedi" (1 Sam. xxiv, 1), the 
" wilderness of Judah " (Judg. i, 16), the " wilderness 
of Maon." 1 Sam. xxiii, 24. 

In the frequent contests with wild beasts and rob- 
ber hordes, which sallied forth from this region 
upon the flocks and other possessions of the tribe, the 
young w^arriors of Judah w^ere trained and disciplined 
for the very important position they always occupied 
in the armies of Israel. Here David and his asso- 
ciates took their first lessons in successful warfare, and 
here, also, they found a safe refuge from the unre- 
lenting tyranny of King Saul. 

So far as we can learn, there w^ere only six cities 
in all this wilderness, and these, like Engedi, were 



ilil! 

liliiiilM:^! 
111. ' 




Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 61 

perched on the cliffs overhanging the Dead Sea, or 
perhaps upon the higher slopes of the basin. 

Nine cities of -'the hill-country," or Judah proper, 
were allotted to the priests. Josh, xxi, 9-19. Of 
these Hebron seems to have been the principal one, 
and was probably the residence of Zacharias and 
Elizabeth, to which they retired immediately after 
the birth of John was so strangely announced."^ 

Hebron is eighteen miles south of Jerusalem, near 
the southern extremity of that broad back of hills 
which niarks the center of Judah, and stretches from 
this point northward until it is intersected by the 
plain of Esdraelon, beyond Shechem. xlccording to 
Schubert it stands at the height of 2,664 Paris feet 
above the level of the sea. It is one of the oldest 
cities known to history, having been built "seven 
years before Zoan in Egypt " (Num. xiii, 22), and 
mentioned in the sacred record even before the 
famous city of Damascus. Compare Gen. xiii, 18 ; 
XV, 2. Its first name appears to have been Mamre, 
from the fact that it belono^ed to Abraham's Amor- 
itish ally. Gen. xxiii, 19; xxxv, 27; xiv, 13, 24. Its 
second name was Kirjath-arba, that is, the city of 

* Some of the best scholars (notably Ewald, Reland, Van Ooster- 
zee, and Lange) suppose that in the term " city of Judah,'' in Luke 
i, 39, Judah is but a softened name for Juttah, one of the priestly 
cities mentioned in Josh, xv, 55 ; xxi, 16, and which still exists under 
the modern name of Yutta. But in the absence of any real proof to 
justify this theory I prefer to adopt the more generally accepted 
opinion that Hebron was the birthplace of John the Baptist. 



62 John the Baptist. 

Arba, from Arba, chief of the Anakim, who dwelt 
in and about the citj. Gen. xxiii, 2 ; Josh, xiv, 15 ; 
xxi, 11. 

When Sarah died at Hebron, Abraham bought 
there the cave of Macl^pelah from Ephron the Hittite, 
for a family tomb. Gen. xxiii, 2-20. Here her body 
was laid, and finally Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
were all entombed by her side. This was Abraham's 
favorite neighborhood, and from here the patriarchal 
family at last departed for Egypt by way of JBeer- 
sheba. Gen. xxxvii, 14 ; xlvi, 1. 

After the conquest of the country by the Israelites 
under Joshua, Hebron became one of the cities of 
refuge, and was one of the cities appointed for the 
residence of tlie priests and Levites. Josli. xx, 7 ; 
xxi, 11, 13. When David became king of Judah he 
made Hebron liis royal residence for seven years and 
a half. Here most of his sons were born, and here, 
at last, the elders of the twelve tribes assembled to 
solemnly anoint him king over all Israel. 2 Sam. ii, 
1-4, 11; 1 Kings ii, 11; 2 Sam. v, 1, 3. In He- 
bron Absalom first raised the standard of revolt 
against his fatlier's government. 2 Sam. xv, 9, 10. 
Though desqlate at the time of the captivity, on the 
return of the exiles they resettled Hebron and the 
surrounding villages and country. ISTeh. xi, 25. 

Hebron is not named by the prophets, nor in the 
New Testament ; but we learn from the Apocrypha, 
and from Jo^ephus, th^t it c^me into the power of 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 63 

the Edoinites, who had taken possession of the south 
of Judah, and was recovered from them by Judas 
Maccabaeus. During the great war Hebron was 
seized by the rebel Simon Giorides, but was recapt- 
ured and burned by Cerealis, an officer of Vespasian. 
Josephus describes fhe tombs of the patriarchs as 
existing in his day ; and both Eusebius and Jerome, 
and all subsequent writers who mention Hebron 
down to the time of the crusades, speak of the place 
chiefly as containing these sepulchers. In the course 
of time, the remarkable structure inclosing the tombs 
of Abraham and the other patriarchs was called tlie 
^' Castle of Abraham ; " and by an easy transition this 
name came to be applied to the city itself, till in the 
time of the crusades the names of Hebron and Castle 
of Abraham were used interchangeably. Hence, as 
Abraham is also distinguished among the Moslems by 
the appellation of el-Khalil^ " the friend " (of God), 
this latter epithet became, among them, the name of 
the city ; and they now^ know Hebron only as el- 
Khalil. The Moslems relate that in a sore famine 
the Father of the Faithful dispatched his servants 
into Egypt to one of his own friends there, asking 
for corn. The Egyptian refused it, saying that if it 
were for Abraham and his family he would send it 
instantly, but as he knew that what he sent would be 
given away to all the poor of the land, in Abraham's 
usual manner, he w^ould not consent to send him any 
to be thus wasted. The servants, ashamed to be seen 



64 John the Baptist. 

coming back witli empty bags, filled tliem with fine 
sand^ wliicli they brought home, telling the result of 
their journey to Abraham alone. As he lay on his 
couch, revolving in his brain the means of preserving 
his family and retainers from impending starvation, 
Sarah went to one of the bags, which had been de- 
posited in the tent, and, opening it, took out meal 
and baked bread. Abraham, smelling the burning 
bread, demanded where she had obtained the meal, 
and she replied, " It is what came but just now from 
your friend in Egypt." '' Say, rather," exclaimed 
the grateful patriarch, " that it came from my friend 
God Almighty." 

Soon after the crusaders had taken Jerusalem, 
Hebron also appears to have passed into their hands, 
and in 1100 was bestowed as a fief upon Gerhard of 
Avennes ; but two years after it is described as being 
in ruins. In 1167 Hebron was raised to the rank of 
a bishopric, and the title of Bisliop of Hebron long 
remained in the Romisli Church, for it occurs so late 
as A.D. 1365. But it was merely nominal ; for after 
the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, Hebron 
also reverted to the Moslems, and has ever since re- 
mained in tlieir possession. In the fourteenth century 
pilgrims passed from Sinai to Jerusalem direct through 
the desert by Beersheba and Hebron. In the follow- 
ing century this route seems to have been abandoned 
for that by Gaza; yet the pilgrims sometimes took 
Hebron in their way, or visited it from Gaza. The 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Jcdah. 65 

travelers of that period describe as existing here an 
immense charitable establishment, or hospital, where 
twelve hundred loaves of bread, besides oil and other 
condiments, w^ere daily distributed to all comers, with- 
out distinction of age or religion, at the annual ex- 
pense of twenty thousand ducats."^ 

The modern town of Hebron is situated in a valley 
which has its head at a point about four miles north 
of the place, and runs S.-S.-E. This is supposed to be 
the "valley of Eshcol" where the Jewish spies gath- 
ered the huge cluster of grapes with which they aston- 
ished their friends on their return to camp. JSTum. xiii, 
23. The valley is at first broad, and beautiful with 
its many vineyards, but narrows as it approaches 
the town, and at last is shut in by high hills on 
either side. Hebron is really a cluster of three small 
towns. The main town, where are the great mosque, 
and the bazars, and all the principal business places, 
lies upon the slope of the eastern hill and extends 
well down into the valley. IN^orth of this, and beyond 
quite a stretch of unoccupied plain, is a sort of sub- 
urban village principally given up to dwellings, such 
as tliey are. 

The slope of the western hill is also well covered 
by a cluster of houses; and although, like all eastern 
towns, Hebron is not particularly delightful in itself, 

* In the foregoing historical sketch of Hebron, I have drawn largely 
from the article on that city in McClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia, 
where copious references to original authorities will be found. 



66 John the Baptist. 

still, in the beauty of its situation, and the general 
attractiveness of its surroundings, it has few, if any, 
equals in all Palestine. 

The town has no wall ; the streets are unusually nar- 
row, with a pretense of pavement which only makes 
the path more perilous ; the houses are usually well 
built of stone, each flat roof adorned with two or three 
queer little cupolas ; the shops are often well furnished 
with commodities prettily arranged, and altogether 
there is quite an appearance of thrift as compared with 
the average dirty and sleepy Egyptian or Syrian town. 

One of the favorite camping-grounds of travelers 
is at a point above and over against the main town, 
where the retreating top of the western hill leaves a 
gently sloping strip of ground. Just north of this, 
in the midst of the orchards of very old olive trees, is 
a cool and abundant fountain gushing from under- 
neath an arch. 

In the bottom of the deep valley, south of the main 
town, are the ancient pools or reservoirs built of 
hewn stone and filled with water from the rains. 
Men, women, children, donkeys, and dogs are con- 
stantly seeking these pools, as the most convenient if 
not the principal source of water supply for the town. 

The valley and sloping hill-sides above and below 
Hebron are very fertile. Vineyards, extensive plan- 
tations of thrifty olive trees, and groups of almond 
trees are seen in every direction ; the grain fields give 
promise of abundant harvests, while great numbers 







i ' 'h^ 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 69 

of cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys evidently find 
rich pasturage upon the more rugged hill-tops. 

Another attractive resting place for travelers is 
about a mile north of the town, in the midst of the 
vineyards, where stands '^ Abraham's oak," said to be 
the very tree under which the patriarch pitched his tent 
when he dwelt in the plain, or oak grove, of Mamre.* 
Gen. xviii. Although this oak, extremely ancient as 
it evidently is, cannot possibly date back to Abraham, 
still it is by far the finest tree in Palestine, and hence 
.an object of deep interest to all who visit the region. 
Its trunk is, by actual measurement, twenty-three 
fe^t in circumference, and its branches cover a space 
nearly one hundred feet in diameter. 

As the place where the future glory of God's chosen 
nation was first revealed to its great founder (Gen. 
xvii) this lovely valley, viewed from beneath the mag- 
nificent oak, has a peculiar charm to the Christian 
visitor. Memory and imagination at once become 
reverently active, and, whether it be in the stillness 
of the noon-tide hour or when the sunset glory is 
upon the landscape, the whole region is alive with the 
scenes and personages of history. The spell of the 
past is upon us, and we seem for the moment to w^alk 
and talk with God's heroes as, one after the other, 
from Abraham to John the Baptist, they halt at our 
tent and accept our humble hospitality. 

About five thousand fierce and intolerant Moslems 
* Lange on Gen. xiv, 13, and Gen. xviii, 1. 



70 John the Baptist. 

make up the population of modern Hebron. No 
Christians are allowed to dwell so near the sacred 
remains of the patriarchs, A few Jews are tolerated 
in a quarter of the town set apart for their exclusive 
use, and which is as mean and filthy as such localities 
usually are. There are two or three rude glass-blow- 
ing establishments in Hebron, where glass bracelets 
and anklets are made for the women and children of 
the country in great quantities. 

The principal place of interest inside the town is, 
of course, the great mosque built over the cave of 
Machpelah and the tombs of the patriarchs ; a place 
the authenticity of which is not questioned by Dr. 
Robinson or any of the most critical explorers of Pal- 
estine, and which answers to every descriptive point 
in tlie scriptural narrative."^ Gen. xxiii. The mosque 
stands upon the slope of the eastern hill, and its ex- 
terior shows an enormous stone building in the form 
of a parallelogram. The walls are built of very large 
stones with "beveled edges, similar to those in the 
foundation walls of the temple area at Jerusalem. 
There are no windows in any part of these outer 
walls, and they are raised so very high that no pro- 
fane eyes from without can possibly overlook them. 
The interior is regarded by the Moslems as holy 
ground. Jews are only allowed to look within at 
certain set times, while Christians can never enter 
except by stratagem or by royal permit. Denied, 

♦RobiDSOu's Researches in Palestine^ vol. ii, 77-79. 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 71 

therefore, the privilege of personal study and descrip- 
tion of tliis vast shrine, I innst content myself with 
offering to my readers Dean Stanley's graphic account 
of his visit to it, in the spring of 1862, in company 
with the Prince of Wales and his suite : 

"At length we reached the south-eastern corner of 
the massive wall of inclosure, the point at w^hich in- 
quiring travelers from generation to generation have 
been checked in their approach to this, the most an- 
cient and the most authentic of all the holy places of 
the Holy Land. Up the steep flight of the exterior 
staircase — gazing close at hand on the polished surface 
of the wall, amply justifying Josephus's account of 
the marble-like appearance of the huge stones which 
compose it — we rapidly mounted. At the head of 
the staircase, which by its long ascent showed that the 
platform of the mosque was on the uppermost slope 
of the hill, and therefore above the level where, if 
anywhere, the sacred cave would be found, a sharp 
turn at once brought us within the precincts, and re- 
vealed to us for the first time the wall from the inside. 
A later w^all, of Mussulman times, has been built on 
the top of the Jewish inclosure. The inclosure itself, 
as seen from the inside, rises but a few feet above the 
platform. Here w^e were received with mucli cere- 
mony by five or six persons corresponding to the dean 
and canons of a Christian cathedral. They were the 
representatives of the forty hereditary guardians of 
the mosque. 



72 JoHK THE Baptist. 

"We passed at once through an open court into 
the mosque. With regard to the building itself, two 
points at once became apparent: First, it was clear 
that it had been originally a Byzantine church. To 
any one acquainted with the cathedral of St. Sophia 
at Constantinople, and wdth the Monastic churches of 
Mount Atlios, this is evident from the double narthex 
or portico, and from the four pillars of the nave. 
Secondly, it was clear that it had been converted at 
a much later period into a mosque. This is indicated 
by the painted arches and by the truncation of the 
apsis. The transformation was said by the guardians 
of the mosque to have been made by Sultan Kelaoun. 
The whole building occupies (to speak roughly) one 
third of the platform. The windows are sufficiently 
high to be visible from without, above the top of the 
inclosing w^all. 

" I now proceed to describe the tombs of the patri- 
archs, premising always that these tombs, like all those 
in Mussulman mosques, and indeed like most tombs 
in Christian churches, do not profess to be the actual 
places of sepulture, but are merely monuments or 
cenotaphs in honor of the dead who lie beneath. 
Each is inclosed within a separate chapel or shrine, 
closed with gates or railings similar to those w^hich 
surround or inclose the special chapels or royal tombs 
in Westminster Abbey. The two first of these shrines 
or chapels are contained in the inner portico or narthex, 
before the entrance into the actual building or ^nosque. 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 73 

In tlie recess on the right is the shrine of Abraham, 
in the recess on the left that of Sarah, each guarded 
by silver gates. The shrine of Sarah we were re- 
quested not to enter, as being that of a woman. A 
pall lay over it. The shrine of Abraliam, after a mo- 
mentary hesitation, was thrown open. The guardians 
groaned aloud. But their chief turned to me with 
the remark, ' The princes of any other nation should 
liave passed over my dead body sooner than enter. 
But to the eldest son of the queen of England we are 
willing to accord even this privilege.' He stepped 
in before us and offered an ejaculatory prayer to the 
dead patriarch : ' O friend of God, forgive this intru- 
sion.' We then entered. The chamber is cased in 
marble. The so-called tomb consists of a coffin-like 
structure, about six feet high, built up of plastered 
stone or marble, and hung witli three carpets, green 
embroidered with gold. Fictitious as the actual 
structure was, it was impossible not to feel a thrill of 
unusual emotion at standing on such a spot. Within 
the area of the mosque were shown the tombs of Isaac 
and Rebekah. They are placed under separate chap- 
els, in the walls of which are windows, and of which 
the gates are grated not with silver but iron bars. 
Their situation, planted as they are in the body of the 
mosque, may indicate their Christian origin. In 
almost all Mussulman sanctuaries the tombs of distin- 
guished persons are placed, not in the center of the 

building, but in the corners. To Rebekah's tomb the 
5" 



74 John the Baptist. 

same decorous rule of the exclusion of mule visitors 
naturally applied as in the case of Sarah's. But on 
requesting to see the tomb of Isaac we were entreated 
not to enter ; and on asking, with some surprise, why 
an objection which had been conceded for Abraham 
should be raised in the case of his far less eminent 
son, were answered that the difference lay in the char- 
acters of the two patriarchs—' Abraham was full of 
loving-kindness; he had withstood even the resolu- 
tion of God against Sodom and Gomorrah ; he was 
goodness itself, and would overlook any affront. But 
Isaac was proverbially jealous, and it was exceedingly 
dangerous to exasperate him. When Ibrahim Pasha 
(as conqueror of Palestine) had endeavored to enter, 
he had been driven out by Isaac, and fell back as if 
thunderstruck.' The chapel, in fact, contains nothing 
of interest ; but I mention tliis story both for the sake 
of the singular sentiment which it expresses, and also 
because it well illustrates the peculiar feeling which 
has tended to preserve the sanctity of the place — an 
awe, amounting to terror, of the great personages who 
lay beneath, and who would, it was supposed, be sensi- 
tive to any disrespect shown to their graves, and re- 
venge it accordingly. The shrines of Jacob and Leah 
were shown in recesses corresponding to those of 
Abraham and Sarah. The gates of Jacob's tomb 
were opened without difficuhy, though with a deep 
groan from the bystanders. There was some good 
painted glass in one of the windows. The structure 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 75 

was of the same kind as that in the shrine of Abra- 
ham, but with carpets of a coarser texture. Else it 
calls for no special remark." 

After mentioning the tomb of Joseph (to which, 
the Mussulmans say, the body of Joseph was removed 
from Shechem), in a domed chamber attached to the 
inclosure from the outside, and the more modern 
structure over the tomb of Judah, which constitute 
the only variations from the catalogue of tombs in 
the book of G-enesis, Dean Stanley continues : 

"We have now gone through all the shrines, 
whether of real or fictitious importance, which the 
sanctuary includes. It will be seen that up to this 
point no mention has been made of the subject of 
greatest interest, namely, the sacred cave itself, in 
which one at least of the patriarchal family may pos- 
sibly still repose intact — the embalmed body of 
Jacob. It may be well supposed that to this object 
our inquiries were throughout directed. One indica- 
tion alone of the cavern beneath was visible. In the 
interior of the mosque, at the corner of the shrine of 
Abraham, was a small circular hole, about eight inches 
across, of which one foot above the pavement was 
built of strong masonry, but of which the lower part, 
as far as we could see and feel, was of the living rock. 
This cavity appeared to open into a dark space be- 
neath, and that space (which the guardians of the 
mosque believe to extend under the whole platform) 
can hardly be any thing else than the ancient cavern 



76 John the Baptist. 

of Machpelah. This was the only aperture which the 
guardians recognized. Once, they said, two thousand 
five hundred years ago, a servant of a great king had 
penetrated through some other entrance. He de- 
scended in full possession of his faculties, and of 
remarkable corpulence ; he returned blind, deaf, 
withered, and crippled. Since then the entrance was 
closed, and this aperture alone was left, partly for the 
sake of suffering the holy air of the cave to escape 
into the mosque and be scented by the faithful ; partly 
for the sake of allowing a lamp to be let down by a 
chain which we saw suspended at the mouth, to burn 
upon the sacred grave. We asked wliether it could 
not be lighted now. ' No,' they said ; ^ the saints like 
to have a lamp at night, but not in the full day- 
light.' 

" With that glimpse into the dark void we and the 
woi'ld without must for the present be satisfied. 
Whetlier any other entrance is known to tlie Mussul- 
mans themselves must be a matter of doubt. The 
original entrance to the cave, if it is now to be found 
at all, must probably be on the southern face of the 
hill, between the mosque and the gallery containing 
the shrine of Joseph, and entirely obstructed by the 
very ancient Jewish wall, probably built across it for 
this very purpose. It seems to our notions almost 
incredible that Christians and Mussulmans, each for a 
period of six hundred years, should have held posses- 
sion of the sanctuary, and not had the curiosity to 



Hebron and the Hill-Country of Judah. 77 

explore what to us is the one object of interest — the 
cave. But the fact is undoubted that no account ex- 
ists of any such attempt. Such a silence can only be 
explained (but it is probably a sufficient explanation) 
by tlie indifference which prevailed, throughout the 
Middle Ages, to any historical spots, however inter- 
esting, unless they were actually consecrated as places 
of pilgrimage. And to this must be added, in the 
case of Mussulmans generally, the terror which they 
entertain of the effect of the wrath of the patriarchs 
on any one who should intrude into the place wliere 
they are supposed still to be in a kind of suspended 
animation. As far back as the seventeenth century 
it was firmly believed that if any Mussulman entered 
the cavern immediate death would be the conse- 
quence." ^ No obstacle to knowledge is so effectual 
as superstition. 

Ther eare two or three accounts by travelers who 
gained even a nearer view than did Dean Stanley, 
and by one or two who enjoyed unusual opportunities 
for securing information from the guardians of the 
mosque. All of these accounts substantially agree that 
under the elevated platform of the mosque there are 
two large natural grottoes, one beyond or above the 
other ; that the patriarchs and their wives are said to 
be buried in the lower or farther one ; and that even 
the highest officials of the mosque only enter the 
first grotto, while the actual sepulcher remains, cent- 

* Appendix II to Lectures on the Jeioish Churchy Part I. 



78 John the Baptist. 

uiy after century, undisturbed.^ This is all that 
can be learned, with any degree of deliniteness, of a 
place full of sacred interest alike to Jewish and 
Christian scholars, but which is effectually closed to 
their critical investigations by the fierce and super- 
stitious representatives of the worst religion and the 
w^orst government under the sun. 

* Buried Cities Recovered^ by Dr. F. S. De Hass, p. 216. M. Ermete 
Pierotti in London Times of April 30, 1862. 



Mary's Visit to Elisabeth. 79 



CHAPTER III. 

MARY'S VISIT TO ELISABETH. 

Six montJis after Gabriel's announcement to Zach- 
arias in the temple he was sent with a still more 
important message to the Virgin Mary at Nazareth — 
even the full annunciation of the coming Messiah 
himself. Mary accepted the honor about to be be- 
stowed upon her, notwithstanding the severe trial of 
her faith which it involved, with the patience and 
thankfulness of long expectation. Her gentle soul 
was attuned to perfect harmony with the calm and 
unostentatious spirit which marked the entrance o>f the 
Divine into the world of man. For a time at least 
she was shut off, by the very nature and manner of 
the revelation, from communion with those around 
her; and, although lifted into a state of ecstatic 
hope and joy, her solitude became unbearable. She 
longed for some one in whom she could safely 
confide; with whom she could converse while she 
waited, in trembling expectation, the fulfillment of 
the divine promise. At this moment she remem- 
bered that Gabriel had assured her, as a token of 
God's power and faithfulness to bring to pass all 
that he had promised, that her kinswoman Elisabeth, 



80 John the Baptist. 

althongli well advanced in a childless old age, should 
soon, through divine interposition, be blessed with a 
son. To Elisabeth, then, she could safely intrust her 
secret. So, eager for sympathy and companionship 
in her marvelous experience, she made ready in great 
haste, and, taking advantage of the freedom accorded 
to Hebrew women even in those early times, she set 
out for Hebron, the distant residence of her cousin. 

It was at least a hundred miles from Nazareth to 
Hebron, a long journey for a maiden so young and 
perhaps unprotected. But distance and danger 
counted as nothing with one who was sustained by 
the exalted hope of fulfilling the expectation of Israel ; 
ai:i honor for which every Hebrew mother had prayed 
from the days of Moses until now. 

With that part of her route which lay between 
Nazareth and Jerusalem she w^as very familiar, as she 
had trodden it often before in the visits which she 
and her kinsfolk annually paid to the temple. It was 
a beautiful country through which she passed, and 
each succeeding locality reminded her more forcibly 
than its predecessors of the ancient glory of her 
people. 

To the left of her well-trodden path was Mount 
Tabor, like a faithful sentinel mounting guard over 
the broad and fertile plain of Esdraelon, and telling 
to each generation the romantic story of Barak and 
Sisera. Judg. iv. The ^vaters of Kishon laved her 
weary feet for a moment, while they sang in her 



Mary's Visit to Elisabeth. 81 

willing ear the song of Deborah. Judg. v. A little to 
the east Mount Gilboa rose upon her view, with the 
story of Saul's last battle and tragic death. 1 Chron. x. 
At Samaria, or Sebaste^ as Herod's new and splendid 
city was called, she probably tarried for a night to 
rest and recall its two centuries of history as the 
famous capital of the northern kingdom, and the scene 
of so many acts of the prophets Elijah and Elisha as 
they denounced its idolatry and sought to destroy its 
heathen temples. Then came Ebal and Gerizim, 
around whose tops the blessings an<i the cursings of 
Jehovah's law still seemed to linger (Deut. xi, 29 ; 
Josh, viii, 30-35), and Shechem, " the paradise of Pal- 
estine," and Jacob's well, and Joseph's tomb; and 
perhaps a night at Bethel, with its memory of the 
patriarch's vision (Gen. xxviii, 10-22), so full of com- 
fort and hope, and so closely allied to her own joyful 
experience and expectation. Mary's song plainly 
shows that when passing the ancient sanctuary at 
Shiloh her mind dwelt lovingly upon Hannah's 
hymn of thanksgiving before the Lord, and Sam- 
uel's call, in the solemn watches of the night, to the 
office of prophet and judge over a misruled people. 
1 Sam. i-iii. 

At last she reached Jerusalem, and looked once 
more upon the magnificent temple, the splendor of 
which was so soon to fade away before the rising 
glory of her divine Son and Lord. 

One day more sufficed for tlie journey from 



82 John the Baptist. 

Jerusalem to Hebron ; aday full of great thoughts to a 
Hebrew woman so peculiarly sensitive to patriotic in- 
fluences, and with heart so well attuned to the patriotic 
strains of her royal ancestor. Rachel's tomb claimed 
an hour's devotion and meditation from the gentle 
wayfarer. Soon her sandals pressed the tender herb- 
age of the shepherds' plain, she little dreaming that 
the soft air above her was erelong to resound with 
the mighty melody of heaven's own music, bursting 
forth in a glad song the echoes of which should 
linger in every land and every age. 

ISText came Bethlehem, the scene of her future 
agony and triumph, and at last the grateful shade of 
Mamre's magniticent oak welcomed her weary foot- 
steps. One brief effort more, and she reached the 
quiet home of Elisabeth, where, according to Oriental 
custom, she reverently saluted the venerable wife of 
the honored priest. Mary's heart thrilled with joy 
when, instead of using the commonplace form of 
greeting, Elisabeth broke forth in the very words 
w^hich the angel had so recently spoken in her aston- 
ished ear : " Blessed art thou among women, and 
blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this 
to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to 
me ? . . . And blessed is she that believed : for there 
shall be a performance of those things which were 
told her from the Lord." Luke i, 42, 43, 45. 

It has been well said that this is '^ the first beatitude 
of the New Testament, and, in a certain sense, the 



Mary's Visit to Elisabeth. 85 

root of all the rest. Elisabeth, while extolling the 
blessedness of Mary on account of her faith and obe- 
dience, was undoubtedly reflecting with compassion 
on the condition of Zacharias, whose unbelief had 
been reproved with loss of speecli, while the believ- 
ing Mary was entering her house with joyful saluta- 
tions." ^ 

Mary had no need to tell her precious secret. It 
was already known to Elisabeth, and that divinely 
communicated knowledge became a fresh token of 
God's favor and a fresh stimulus to the faith of these 
two friends, drawn together by a common sympathy 
and a common hope. 

Elisabeth's humility and strength of character be- 
come most marked as she rises above all distinctions 
of station and age and rank, and not only greets with 
true hospitality her humbler relative, but ungrudg- 
ingly, and in the fervent utterance of love, acknowl- 
edges the higher distinction conferred upon her, and 
marvels that such an honor should come, even to 
Zacharias's priestly home, as the permission to wel- 
come and shelter the mother of Israel's Messiah. 

But now the spirit of praise and song came in a 
still greater measure upon Mary herself. The daugh- 
ter of David's royal line, like all the more intelligent 
and devout of her race, was familiar with the lyrics 
of the Old Testament. Many times had her soul 
been thrilled as she read the sublime utterances of 

* Lange on Luke i, 42. 



86 John the Baptist. 

Isaiah and his prophetic brethren ; so it is not strange 
that, favored and inspired of the Holy Spirit, she 
gave to Elisabeth's wonderful salutation a still more 
wonderful response, in the " Magnificat," which, 
though evidently no carefully composed ode, but sim- 
ply an unpremeditated outburst of sacred emotion 
and inspiring faith, is still worthy a descendant of 
Israel's poet-king, and worthy, as well, to be forever 
cherished by the Cliurch of God as the first and full- 
est of our Christian hymns. Mary said : 

"My soul dotli map^iiify the Lord, 

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 

For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden : 

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things ; 

And holy is his name. 

And his mercy is unto generations and generations 

On them that fear him. 

He hath showed strength with his arm ; 

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart. 

He hath put down princes from their thrones, 

And hath exalted them of low degree. 

The hungry he hath filled with good things; 

And the rich he hath sent empty away. 

He hath hoi pen Israel his servant, 

That he might remember mercy 

(As he spake unto our fathers) 

Toward Abraham and his seed forever." 

In words as clear and impressive as though Jehovah 
himself should speak to men, this hymn of the Virgin 
proclaims that the prophecy which for ages has sus- 



Mary's Visit to Elisabeth. 87 

tained the hope of Israel is about to be fulfilled, and 
the race has " reached the point of contact between 
God and man." 

As "the poetess and prophetess of the infant 
Church," Mary sings not only of God's goodness to 
lierself, but, in strains worthy to mingle with those 
of Hannah and David and Isaiah, she foretells the 
power and glory of the coming gospel kingdom. 
The spirit and genius of the Baptist and the Christ 
blend in the inspired song, as the two mothers 
stand side by side upon the threshold of the new dis- 
pensation. We almost hear the voice of one who 
cried in the wilderness : '' Prepare ye the way of tlie 
Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our 
God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every 
mountain and hill shall be made low : and the crooked 
shall be made straight, and the rough places plain : 
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all 
flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it." As we listen, a clearer, sweeter 
tone strikes upon our ears, and the voice of our divine 
Lord speaks to our hearts in the words of authority 
and love ; words that shall forever be the inspiration 
of the new gospel, and the new Church : " Blessed 
are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven. Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit 
the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and 
thirst after righteousness : for they shall be filled." 

For three months these noble and devout women 



88 John the Baptist. 

dwelt together in Hebron, holding sweet converse 
as they doubtless united in the simple labors of the 
Oriental household, giving much time to the study 
of the Scriptures, as well as high and holy thoughts 
upon the past promise and future purpose of God 
touching the Messiah and his forerunner. They, 
without doubt, in common with the entire nation, 
w^ere looking for certain civil and political advan- 
tages through the advent of the Messiah ; but their 
minds were too clear, and they were too manifestly 
taught of God, not to regard the expected temporal 
emancipation as, after all, but the symbol of that 
higher salvation which was to be the crown and 
glory of Israel and the redemption of the whole 
earth. 

At the end of the three months Mary retraced her 
steps to her home in Nazareth, there to await with 
calmness and patience the revelations of Providence 
and her own complete vindication. 



John's Birth. 89 



CHAPTER ly. 

JOHN'S BIRTH. 
A. U. C. 748 or 749. 

Shortly after Mary's return to Nazaretli Elisa- 
beth's expected son was born. It was a time for 
men and angels to rejoice, as Zacliarias and Elisabeth 
first gazed upon the face of the child who was not 
only the fulfillment of God's promise to his aged 
servants, but whose first plaintive cry heralded the 
event for which the world so long had waited : the 
advent of the world's Redeemer. 

The devout father received the babe in a silence 
which, although enforced, must have been not al- 
together unwelcome ; for it was one of those moments 
when words, as the exponents of the most sacred 
thoughts and the tenderest emotions, seem so poor 
and mean that they are better left unsaid. 

As soon as the relatives and neighbors of the 
priestly family heard of the birth they thronged the 
house, according to time-honored Oriental custom, to 
rejoice with the parents; for although they were ig- 
norant of the real significance of the event, they still 
counted it an amazing token of God's mercy to a 
noble and honored household. 



90 John the Baptist. 

The exact date of John's birth cannot be given. "^ 
The chronology of his life and ministry is beset with 
many diflSculties, and yet it is so blended with that 
of our Lord that all the purposes, of these pages, at 
least, will be met at this point by the general state- 
ment that John was born about six months before the 
birth of Jesus.f 

On the eighth day there was a large assemblage of 
relatives and friends at the house of Zacharias ; for 
the circumstances attending the birth of the child, 
and particularly the condition of the father, had 
been spread abroad throughout the city, and very 
naturally attracted special attention to the circum- 
cision and naming, which, in accordance with He- 

* Those who are interested in the various opinions on this point 
are referred to an elaborate discussion of the subject in Appendix A 
of Dr. Henry Robert Reynolds's John the Baptist; a Contribution to 
Christian Evidences. 

f The day of John's birth — Midsummer day — has always been 
kept as a great festival in the Christian Church, especially at Flor- 
ence. Mrs. Jameson says: '* There is a legend that the Virgin 
Mary prolonged her visit to her cousin EUsabeth till after the birtli 
of St. John, received the child in her arras, and presented him to his 
father. In the Florence G-allery is a curious and interesting example 
of the manner in wliich the Florentines mixed up their great protect- 
ing saint with their domestic life. It is a large, round, deep wooden 
dish, such as was used to present sweetmeats or presents to a lady 
in her confinement. In the center Pontormo has painted very beau- 
tifully the birth of St. John the Baptist, with all the usual accompa- 
niments — Elisabeth reclining on her couch, attendants washing the 
new-born child, etc." — History of Our Lord in Art 



John's Birth. 91 

brew custom, were simultaneous!}^ to take place at 
that time.* Gen. xxi, 3, 4. 

It has been remarked by students of Oriental cus- 
toms that the practice of naming the child, with ap- 
])ropriate ceremonies, on the seventh or eighth day 
after birth, prevails in almost every part of the East, 
even where the rite of circumcision has been un- 
known. According to Ewald this custom exists 
among the Khandi in India, as well as among many 
tribes of negroes. The same writer also gives good 
reasons for connecting this practice with the ancient 
sacred division of time into weeks.f Among the 

* Dr. D. D. Whedon in his comment on Luke i, 59, says: "Cir- 
cumcision was given by God to Abraham as a sign of the cove- 
nant between God and the circumcised. Perhaps it was, as in the 
case of sacrifices, merely the renewal of an ancient rite, for we 
find that not only the Jews and other Abrahamic tribes practiced 
the rite, but the Ethiopians, Abyssinian s, Egyptians, and others. 
Under the Mosaic law infant circumcision was the rite of induction 
into the kingdom of God. It was the condition to be performed be- 
fore the adult person could partake of the paschal host. This was 
enjoined with great solemnity. So, under the Christian dispensation, 
except a man be externally born of water he cannot see the external 
kingdom of God. That is, as circumcision once so baptism now is 
the admission rite of the Church of God. From this it would follow 
that no one who is not qualified — if an adult, by justifying faith; if 
an infant, by the unconditional power ot the atonement — to enter the 
kingdom of God is qualified for baptism. And as circumcision was 
required previous to the paschal feast, so baptism should be per- 
formed previous to the partaking of the communion." 

\ Israel. Alterthilmer, p. 110. 
6 



92 John the Baptist. 

Greeks and Romans, also, it was customary to name 
the child on the day of purification. 

On this occasion the friends, in harmony witli the 
custom of their jDeople, were about to bestow upon 
the child the honored name of his father ; but Elisa- 
beth, who had doubtless learned from Zacharias what 
his name was commanded to be, interfered, and said, 
''Not so; but he shall be called John." Then, 
in true Eastern style, there arose a noisy dispute. 
The relatives insisted that none of the child's kin- 
dred had been called by that name, and that it would, 
therefore, be an iimovation which ought not to be 
thought of. But Elisabeth was firm ; so at last the 
matter was referi*ed, by signs, to the deaf and dumb 
Zacharias, who w^as naturally the final authority in the 
case. Zacharias called for a writing table,"^ and to 
the utter astonishment of the company he quickly 
WTote, '' His name is John." Not, '• His name shall 
he called John," as though the father's judgment and 
authority were alone concerned in the matter, but 
"His name i^ John," for Gabriel, as Jehovah's repre- 
sentative, had already named him in token of the 
special dispensation of divine mercy and love which 
his birth was to inaugurate. Bishop Penick says : 

"John came to usher in the King of grace, the 

* The writiDg tablet was a smooth, flat piece of wood, overspread 
with a surface of wax. The writing was done with an iron styhis, 
one end of which was sharp-pointed, for scratching upon the wax, 
and the other end broad and smooth, for erasing the letters. 



John's Birth. 93 

reign of God's love ; and it was meet and fit that with 
his very name lie should cut asunder those associations 
that bound him to the old order of things, for he 
came to proclaim the kingdom of heaven at hand ; 
the shadows past and the substance present. He 
came to honor God's grace, not to prolong Zacharias's 
name, family line, or priesthood. The preacher John 
takes the place of the priest Zacharias, and the wilder- 
ness and the conquest of the world are substituted for 
Jerusalem and the temple. 'No wonder that all pres- 
ent marveled at those words written by Zacharias. 
No wonder they laid up those words in their hearts, 
saying, ' What manner of child shall this be ? ' For 
in that name and its surroundings they felt a trem- 
bling like that of an earthquake strike through all the 
structures of the Levitical dispensation." 

No sooner had Zacharias performed this act of faith 
in acknowledgment of Jehovah's authority and ful- 
fillment of his promise than his lips were unsealed, 
and he broke forth into thanksgiving and praise. 
The sign was of no further use, for the reality had 
come. 

No wonder the assembled friends were filled with 
an amazement which was soon intensified into fear. 
Neither is it strange that soon afterward the story of 
all these unusual occurrences and startling sayings 
should be ^' noised abroad throughout all the hill-coun- 
try of Judea." The thought that the angel of God 
had, after so great a lapse of time, again visited Israel, 



94 John the Baptist. 

and that the days of prophecy aiid miracles had not 
yet passed, compelled the attention and quickened the 
faith of the best and most intelligent among the peo- 
ple, so that with brightening hope they watched the 
development of the lad to see what manner of child 
he would turn out to be. 

The gratitude and exultant joy which filled the 
heart of Zacharias did not find its most appropriate 
utterance on the day of circumcision, but not long 
after the power of the Holy Spirit rested upon him at 
what may be called the culminating moment of his 
life, when the loftiest expressions of praise and 
prophecy sprang to his lips, and broke forth in the 
grand " Benedictus," which will forever link his name 
with the most gifted of Israel's prophets and singers. 
In language of poetic beauty as well as spiritual tri- 
umph he exclaimed (Luke i, 63-79, Kev. Ver.) : 

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel ; 

For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people ; 

And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us 

In the house of his servant David 

(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been 
since the world began), 

Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us ; 

To show mercy towards our fathers, 

And to remember his holy covenant ; 

The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father. 

To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our ene- 
mies 

Should serve him without fear. 

In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 



John's Birth. 95 

Yea, and thon, child, sbalt be called the prophet of the Most High : 
For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his 

ways ; 
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people 
In the remission of their sins, 
Because of the tender mercies of our God, 
Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us, 
To shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death; 
To guide our feet into the way of peace." 

Di\ Philip Scliaff sajs : " The ' Magnificat ' of the 
Virgin Mary and the 'Benedictus' of Zacharias are the 
Psahns of the New Testament, and worthily introduce 
the history of Christian hymnology. They prove the 
harmony of poetry and religion. They are the no- 
blest flowers of Hebrew lyric poetry, sending their 
fragrance to the approaching Messiah. They are full 
of reminiscences of the Old Testament, entirely He- 
brew in tone and language, and can be rendered 
almost word for word. These hymns form a part of 
the regular morning service in the Anglican liturgy, 
and resound from Sabbath to Sabbath in Christian 
lands.' ' The ' Benedictus ' itself can scarcely be bet- 
ter described than in the words of Dr. J. P. Lange : 
" The song of praise now uttered by Zacharias had so 
gradually and completely ripened in his soul that he 
could never forget it in the future. This song de- 
picts the form and stature of Ids faith ; it is the ex- 
pression of the Gospel, as his heart had received it. 
It is with a truly priestly intuition that Zacharias sees 
the reconciliation and transformation of the world in 



96 John the Baptist. 

the advent of the Messiah. The coming Christ ap- 
pears to him the true altar of salvation for his people, 
who henceforth, delivered from their enemies, shall 
perform truly real worship, celebrating the service 
of God in perpetual freedom. It is this that is his 
heart's delight — as a priest. His heart's delight as a 
father is that his son John shall be the herald of the 
Lord, to give the knowledge of his salvation even to 
them who sit in darkness and the shadow of death." ^ 
The closing passage of this prophetic psalm, in which 
the coming salvation is represented as " the dayspring 
from on high," is scarcely equaled in all the range of 
Hebrew poetry as the beautiful expression of a lofty 
thought. It places before us, in its full glory and 
blessedness, the celestial morning whose rising beams 
shall forever dispel the darkness of earth. Far deeper 
and stronger than his paternal gratitude and delight 
was the joy with which Zacharias hailed the world's 
Kedeemer. This last prophetic utterance concerning 
Christ before his birth is the grandest and most in- 
spiring of all. God's chastening had accomplished a 
thorough work in the devout soul of the aged 
priest. As Moses smote the rock in the wilderness 
and there gushed forth streams of pure, living water 
to slake the thirst of the multitude, so from the smit- 
ten heart of Zacharias there leaped forth a song of 
faith and joy and triumph which shall slake the soul- 
thirst of God's saints to the end of time. He was 

* Lehen Jesu, ii, p. 90. 



John's Birth. 97 

now in fall accord with God's purposes, and the 
lieav^enly kingdom was nearer and dearer to him tlian 
even this son of his old age. In the supreme mo- 
ment, when he first felt the thrill of paternal life, he 
did not say, ^^ my child," but gladly acknowledged 
God's claim upon the future prophet. This influen- 
tial and learned priest, in a position to start his only 
son upon a career of high worldly success, freely de- 
voted him, from his very birth, to a self-denying, 
toilsome, and even dangerous commission. 

In all this Zacharias gives to Christian parents a 
notable example of heroic consecration ; a consecra- 
tion which holds the most precious child not only 
as a gift from God, but as forever subject to God's 
command, and bound to God's service ; a consecra- 
tion which recognizes the true relation between the 
creature and the Creator, and enables the parent to 
see that the humblest service for God and the truth 
brings with it the highest distinction and deepest 
satisfaction that this mortal life can yield. 

The reader will undoubtedly appreciate Dr. D. D. 
Whedon's closing remarks upon the birth of John 
and the song of Zacharias : " On the very eve of the 
Messiah's appearing the speakers are still in the dim- 
ness of the Jewish dispensation as to the exact char- 
acter of the Messiah and his reign. Had these pro- 
phetic passages been, as skeptics represent, composed 
after the crucifixion, or even after tlie destruction of 
Jerusalem, the writer would have suited the details to 



98 John the Baptist. 

the then existing facts. All these elements which are 
here ascribed to the Messiah's kingdom are really in 
its very nature and substance, and are to be developed 
in its history from the beginning and in future ages. 
Mercy, holiness, truth, light, and peace are its inmost 
principles ; and to those are given, in the present and 
future, power to triumph in the world. The Messiah 
now truly lives and reigns in this kingdom. He lives 
and vQ\gn^ personally and in the hody. He lives and 
reigns di^ personally and corporeally as if he reigned 
visibly, and as if he now sat upon a golden throne in 
the city of Jerusalem. He sways the scepter of the 
world thougli the world be in rebellion. Without 
visible manifestation or show of physical or mechan- 
ical power, and allowing the principles of probation 
and free agency to work out their problem, he is ever 
ruling and overruling the affairs of men in order to 
the development and ultimate prevalence of the reign 
of truth and righteousness in the earth, in order that 
millions on millions may be redeemed ; to the end 
that he shall finally ' see the travail of liis soul and 
be satisfied.' 

"Christian scholars have always been aware that in 
the narrative of the births both of John and of Jesus 
there is abundance both of events and phrases that 
are framed after the model of Old Testament exam- 
ples. Zacharias is visited in the same manner by an 
angel, and with the same message, as was Abraham. 
Mary's hymn is paralleled by Hannah's upon a similar 



John's Birth. 99 

occasion. John is, like Samson, heralded by an angel 
before his birth, and is bound to be a Nazarite. The 
mythical scheme of the skeptical Strauss uses these 
well-known facts to show that the whole story is a 
fabrication manufactured by the imagination of the 
early Christians out of these Old Testament histories 
blended mythically together. His system represents 
the main share of Gospel history to be thus con- 
structed out of Old Testament materials. Every New 
Testament fact that has any thing like it in the Old 
Testament is a plagiary and an imitation, and every 
event fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy is held to 
be invented to fit the prophecy, or to be made out of 
the prophecy itself. The real truth is that the Old 
Testament does contain the kernel and shadows of 
the Ifew. The Jewish people were a living type of 
a better dispensation. The prediction is verified in 
the fulfillment, the type in the antetype, the sacrifice 
in the atonement, the shadow in the substance." * 

As might be expected, there are many legends con- 
cerning the birth and infancy of John, all of which 
bear abundant internal evidence of their unreliability, 
in this respect at least bearing a marked resemblance 
to the myths relating to the childhood of Jesus. 
One of these, which may be given as a fair specimen 
of all, is found in the apocryphal ITew Testament, 
and relates the marvelous escape of Elisabeth and her 
child from the fury of Herod's soldiers in the massa- 

* Comment on Luke i, 79. 



100 John the Baptist. 

ere of the innocents, and is as follows : " Then Herod, 
perceiving that he was mocked by the wise men, and 
being very angry, commanded certain men to go and 
to kill all the children that were in Bethlehem, from 
two years old and under. But Mary, hearing that the 
children were to be killed, being under much fear, 
took the child, and wrapped him up in swaddling 
clothes, and laid him in an ox-manger, because there 
was no room for them in the inn. Elisabeth also, 
hearing that her son John was to be searched for, 
took him and went up into the mountains, and looked 
around for a place to hide him ; and there was no secret 
place to be found. Then she groaned w^ithin herself, 
and said, O mountain of the Lord, receive the mother 
w^ith the child. For Elisabeth could not climb up. 
And instantly the mountain was divided and received 
them. And there appeared to them an angel of tlie 
Lord to preserve them. But Herod made search after 
John, and sent servants to Zacharias, when he w^as 
(ministering) at the altar, and said unto him, Wliere 
hast thou hid thy son ? He replied to them, I am a 
minister of God, and a servant of the altar ; how 
should I know where my son is ? So the servants 
went back and told Herod the whole ; at which he 
was incensed, and said, Is not this son of his like to 
be king in Israel ? He sent therefore again his serv- 
ants to Zacharias, saying. Tell us the truth, w^iere is 
thy son, for you know that your life is in my hand. 
So the servants went and told him all this. But 



John's Birth. 101 

Zacliarias replied to them, I am a martyr for God, 
and if he shed my blood, the Lord will receive my 
soul. Besides, know that ye shed innocent blood. 
However, Zacharias was murdered in the entrance of 
the temple and altar, and about the partition ; but 
the children of Israel knew not when he was killed." "^ 

There is also a legend related by St. Bonaventura, 
who says that on the Virgin and Joseph leaving 
Egypt w4th the divine child they met the young 
Baptist on the skirts of the wilderness, near a gush- 
ing spring, and John acknowledged Christ as Lord, 
bending reverently before him, while Jesus gave the 
little St. John drink from a shell, saying, " 1 am the 
living water ! " 

The child John has always been a favorite in Chris- 
tian art. The old masters were particularly fond of 
introducing him into their pictures of the Holy Fam- 
ily, with his little camePs-hair shirt, and cross, and 
scroll, kissing the feet or hand of the infant Saviour 
or kneeling or standing before him. 

In Luini's fresco in the Church of Lugano the 
infant Child is playing with a lamb on the riglit 
of the Virgin, and on her left the child John points 
to the Saviour with hand outstretched and the fore- 
finger extended : " Behold ! " 

* The F/ otevangelion, xvi. For further account of the legend con- 
cerning the death of Zacharias see foot- note at close of this chapter 
ui Apocryphal New Testament Translation printed for William Hone. 
London, 1820. 



102 John the Baptist. 

Murillo has left to the world a fine picture of St. 
John the Baptist, as a child embracing the lamb, and 
at the same time pointing to heaven. Leonardo and 
Rubens have each a charming picture of Christ and 
the infant Baptist playing together, caressing a lamb 
between them. 

Mrs. Jameson says : " There is a celebrated picture 
by Guido, in which the young St. John, as he clasps 
liis hands with a sort of timid, childish devotion 
before tlie Christ, is caressed and encouraged by 
Joseph. Such representations of the two holy chil- 
dren, sublime in their innocence — the one predestined 
to die for mankind, the other to prepare the way 
before him — have, as church pictures, an inexpress- 
ible beauty and significance, and might, I think, be 
multiplied among us with advantage to the young 
and old. We need sometimes to be reminded of the 
sacredness of childhood." ^ 

* History of Our I/yrd in Art, 



John's Boyhood and Early Training. 103 



CHAPTER V. 

JOHN'S BOYHOOD AND EARLY TRAININa. 

Of the childhood of John we have no account be- 
yond the very brief statement that he grew in physical 
strength and beauty under the fostering care of the 
mother, who was not only devoted to him as her first 
and only born, but as especially set apart for a most 
holy work. His mental development kept pace also 
with his physical growth, and he became remarkable 
for the symmetrical vigor of all his powers. Luke i, 80. 
There is no good reason to suppose that liis retire- 
ment to the lonely life of an ascetic in the wilderness 
occurred until his boyhood was fully passed. 

From the relationship and intimate friendship 
which existed between Mary and Elisabeth, there 
can be no doubt that John, occasionally, at least, met 
Jesus during their childhood and youth. The fam- 
ily gatherings so common among the Jews, and the 
passover feasts at Jerusalem (Luke ii, 41-52), fur- 
nished regular opportunities for the maintenance of 
a friendship which must have begun in their earlier 
years. The predictions concerning the future career 
of each must have i)een often referred to in the 
two households, and this naturally bound the boys 



104 John the Baptist. 

together by a more than common tie of sympathy and 
love, which was renewed in their brief association to- 
gether at the time ef Christ's baptism and attendance 
upon John's preaching, when John took occasion — 
after he had received the divine sign, for which he 
had reverently waited — to bear hearty and explicit 
testimony to his cousin's Messiahship.^ 

During John's youth none of the wonders which 
attended his birth were renewed. Outwardly and 
inwardly his growth conformed to the common laws 
of infancy and childhood. During this formative 
period of life he enjoyed all the advantages of an 
ancient and, in the eyes of his countrymen, a noble 
ancestry. His parents possessed at least a modest 
competency, and, since they were fully aware of the 
important part he was to play in the future history 
of Israel, no doubt every opportunity was given liim 
for a most thorough intellectual and moral develop- 
ment. 

In the social life of Hebron his parents held a 
leading position. Their home was visited by the 
most learned and refined, who held tliem, and con- 
sequently their son, in the highest respect, and who 

* The word rendered cousin in Luke i, 36, may signify kindred 
of any degree, although in this case it probably is intended to signify 
that the mothers of Mary and Elisabeth were sisters. Such near 
relationsliip must have been on the maternal side, since on the 
paternal side (the fatlier's descent determined the tribeship of a 
family) Mary was of the tribe of Judah, and Elisabeth of the tribe of 
Levi. 



John's Boyhood and Early Training. 105 

insensibly exerted over the lad a most favorable edu- 
cating influence. 

His genealogy could be traced ir* a direct line back, 
through fourteen centuries, to the days of the ex- 
odus, a line the history of which furnished many 
famous names and recorded many great and noble 
deeds. 

Zacharias and Elisabeth were of necessity, and of 
choice as well, strict observers of the law; and, un- 
questionably, took good care that their son should be 
early inspired with a religious reverence for all fasts 
and feasts, for the Sabbath, and the synagogue, and 
the study of the Scriptures. He was taught to ob- 
serve the multiplied rules concerning meats and 
drinks and dress, and all the particular acts and 
duties connected with every-day domestic, social, and 
religious life. While yet a child he fairly entered 
into the " slavery of ritualism," the chains of w^liich 
were probably none the less galling because his parents' 
and kindred had felt their weight before him. He 
lived, and ate, and labored, and studied, and slept, 
and awoke by rule, the slightest deviation from which 
would be regarded as a sin, which, if persisted in, 
would be fatal to his enjoyment of the rights and 
privileges and honors of his caste. The son of a 
priest, he was destined, by law and by custom, for the 
priesthood, and often accompanied his father to the 
temple at Jerusalem, the glittering pinnacles of 
which he could see from the hill-tops of Hebron. 



106 John the Baptist. 

At sncli times lie was carefully instructed in all the 
details of the temple service ; and he doubtless often 
made one in the circle of studious disciples gathered 
at the feet of the learned doctors of the law who daily 
taught in the sacred precincts. Such environments 
in youth must have had a powerful influence on his 
character. 

The temple, newly built by Herod, was resplendent 
with purest marble and finest gold. Its smoking 
altars and white- robed priests ; the music of sing- 
ing Levites, and cunning players on horns and harps 
and flutes and cymbals; the countless throng of 
w^orshipers from all lands ; the costly sacrifices and 
offerings, and the proud spirit of the narrowest and 
most intolerant Judaism, all exerted a powerful 
influence upon his keen and reflective mind : an in- 
fluence which, though more or less harmful at first, 
was to a great extent counteracted by the good sense 
* and piety of his parents, and the special enlighten- 
ment of the Holy Spirit during his after life ; so that 
the knowledge thus early gained gave him at last a 
notable advantao-e as teacher and reformer. Pharisa- 
ism, bigotry, religious exclusiveness, ancestral pride, 
and the pomp and display of hypocrisy afterward 
received their severest denunciations and most cut- 
ting rebukes from one who w^as perfectly familiar 
with their sources and tendencies. 

During John's childhood and early youth the in- 
structions of home were probably supplemented by 



John's Boyhood and Early Training. 107 

attendance upon the school of some Jiazzan^ or reader 
of the synagogue/'^' followed by enrollment in one of 
the higher schools of the scribes, or Soferim. He 
probably obtained little if any knowledge of Greek, 
as that language was not much known in the hill- 
country of Judah, where the towns and cities were, 
for the most part, yet spared the presence of pagans. 
He had but little knowledge of and no sympathy 
w^ith Greek culture, since it was prescribed by the 
Hebrew doctors of the law, who showed their con- 
tempt for it by denouncing, as equally vile and de- 
graded, " he who breeds swine, and he who teaches 
his son the wisdom of the Greeks.^f A most slavish 
study of the law and an unquestioning adoption of 
its precepts were alone considered worthy a serious- 
minded and cultured Hebrew.:}: 

According to the Talmud of Jerusalem, when a 
certain learned rabbi was asked what time it was 
proper to teach children "t\\Q wisdom of the Greeks," 
he replied : " At the hour which is neither day nor 
night, for it is written of the law : Thou shalt study 
it day and night." 

The language of Palestine at that time was the 
Syriac dialect mixed w^th Hebrew. Matt, xxvii, 46 ; 
Mark iii, 17 ; v, 41 ; vii, 34 ; xiv, 36 ; Acts xxi, 37, 
40 ; xxii, 2 ; xxvi, 14. 

* Mischna, Schahbath, i, 3. 

fMischna, Sanhedrin, xi, 1. 

X Josephus, Ant.j xx, chap, xi, 2. 



108 John the Baptist. 

The young John probably came in contact with 
the " grotesque scholasticism " which was enrolling 
among its votaries so many of the learned at Jerusalem, 
and which soon became embodied in the Talmud ; 
but it evidently made but little impression upon him, 
except to inspire him with disgust at its puerility, 
and to furnish him with additional weapons for his 
future attacks upon a false and degenerate Church. 

His mind seemed to turn naturally to a careful 
study and contemplation of the Old Testament, par- 
ticularly the prophets, since his life and character, 
and even his style as a preacher, were evidently 
formed upon these models. Like Elijah, and Elisha, 
and Nathan, and Ezekiel, he became a man of one 
idea. All his fiery eloquence, consuming zeal, and 
uncompromising liatred of hypocrisy ; all his sharp 
reproofs of the prevailing national spirit, and rougli 
pruning of the national character ; were but the ex- 
pression of his determination to make clean and 
faithful preparation for the new King and the new 
kingdom. 

Like his predecessors in the prophetic office, from 
first to last, he neither lost sight of his especial mis- 
sion nor permitted any personal consideration to 
stand in the way of its fulfillment, even in the mi- 
nutest particular. 

He never seemed to take much interest in the 
political events of the times, and he probably had but 
little knowledge of them. He no doubt shared to 



John's Boyhood and Eakly Training. 109 

some extent the national expectation touching the 
temporal power and glory of the Messiah ; but unlike 
the mass of his countrymen he grasped the spiritual 
signiticance of the prophecies concerning the Christ, 
and he knew that in bringing to maturity his own 
sovereign plans and purposes Israel's God would 
take but little account of existing political combina- 
tions or necessities. When the Prince of Peace 
should mount his throne it would matter little 
whether Herod or the hierarchy ruled in Jerusalem, 
or who wielded the imperial scepter at Rome. 

If he took any note of the continual seditions and 
intrigues that were agitating Jerusalem it was only 
because he regarded them as simply foreshadowing 
the great revolution so soon to burst upon the world, 
in which the new must '^ increase" and the old must 
"decrease," until He whose right it was to reign 
would be " Lord of lords and King of kings " forever. 

What was the state of John's mind during these 
early years, and in just what manner his development 
progressed, we cannot tell, since no detailed record is 
left to us ; but, judging by his after character and 
career, they must have been years of anxious expec- 
tation and, at times, intense excitement ; years of the 
most conscientious preparation for the unique expe- 
riences of the wilderness and the great events which 
followed. Pressense may be right when he says : 
" Doubtless the memorable events which had heralded 
John's birth were told him from his tenderest years ; 



110 John the Baptist. 

but, not being elucidated then, as to us they are by 
the whole Gospel history, they would appear some- 
what obscure to him, so much the more as we can 
hardly suppose Elisabeth and Zacharias to have pos- 
sessed the same depth of religious intuition in the 
habitual course of their life as they had reached in 
the moment of inspiration. Again, great realities 
appear more or less indistinct when the}^ are only 
beheld from a distance." "^ But " the child is father 
to the man," and, unquestionably, his boyhood days 
were full of great thoughts and high resolves and 
careful discipline, inspired by the Holy Spirit, who 
overshadowed and directed him from his very birth. 
Luke i, 15. 

John's heart was riglit, and his mental powers, 
through his early training, became w^ell balanced and 
strong, capable of directing all his energies and wis- 
dom to the accomplishment of a great and worthy 
object, else he never could have taken the place in 
history which he did, or exerted such a profound and 
controlling influence upon the minds of men. There 
is no truer saying than that '* It has never been given 
to aberration or looseness of mind to produce a serious 
effect upon the progress of humanity." 

From the very first John showed his religious bias. 
The influences which surrounded him in his home 
were higher than those of mere formalism. Both 
Zacharias and Elisabeth were " righteous before God/' 

^ Jesus Christ: His Life and Woy% p. 39. 



John's Boyhood and Early Training. Ill 

a grace which inchides real mora] woi'th, as well as 
legal exactness and rabbinical blamelessness. Their 
piety was deep and sincere ; more scriptural than 
Pharisaical, and therefore rare in that day. They 
fulfilled Micah's ideal of one accepted of God, for 
they did justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly w^th 
their God. Micali vi, 8. These noble characteristics 
their son inherited, or, at least, they w^ere early im- 
planted in his heart. From childhood. his soul re- 
sponded to the idea of living to purpose in the world. 
He early caught the true spirit of Hebrew heroism, 
which gave such zest to the study of the ancient 
Scriptures. He aspired to walk with God, as did 
Enoch; to be the ''friend of God," as was Abraham ; 
and to be called and commissioned of God, as was 
Samuel. He learned to regard the call to duty as 
imperative, to disdain self-indulgent ease, to lightly 
value worldly honors, and to look upon the accom- 
plishment of his humble mission, as a simple herald 
of the truth, as the fulfillment of his loftiest concep- 
tion of earthly success. In his w^ise and noble father 
he honored the priest, but gradually his whole soul 
turned toward the higher activities of a prophet, and 
he gladly determined to devote his whole life to the 
work of reform, and the revival of the religion of his 
fathers, that he might thus most effectually " prepare 
the way of the Lord." These resolves were intensified 
by the historical associations of the region in which 
he dwelt. Abraham's life of faith and faithfulness 



112 John the Baptist. 

would inspire his soul every time he approached the 
sacred cave of Machpelah. David's career stimulated 
all the romantic and heroic tendencies of liis nature 
whenever he wandered over the hills of Hebron and 
the plains of Bethlehem, or satisfied his hunger with 
the wild honey of the rocks in the wilderness. The 
legitimate effect of all these influences of education 
and environment appears in John when, in the ma- 
turity of his powers, he enters upon his brief but 
amazing career as a preacher. He was, indeed, 
''strong in spirit." This was his chief characteristic. 
Every thing, even the haughty will of man, gave way 
before the life-purpose of this grand soul. 

Luke's account of his parentage, his home, and the 
nature of his growth, though brief, furnishes founda- 
tion for all these reflections upon the boyhood of the 
Baptist; and we may also with propriety record here 
those words of the Koran which are so consistent 
witli the Bible story : 

"We [the angels] said unto John the son of Zacha- 
rias, O John, receive the book of the law with a reso- 
lution to study and observe it. And we bestowed on 
him wisdom while yet a child, and mercy from us, 
and purity of life ; and he was a devout person, and 
dutiful toward his parents, and was not proud or re- 
bellious. Peace be on him, the day whereon he was 
born, the day whereon he shall die, and the day 
whereon he shall be restored to life." "^ 

* S lie's translation, chap. xix. 



John's Boyhood and Early Training. 113 

^ The parents of Jolm were well stricken in years at 
the time of his birth, and as nothing further is said 
of them in the brief narrative, we may justly conclude 
that both of them passed away before any thing re- 
markable took place in the life of their son. Witli 
the close of Luke's first chapter the story of his 
childhood is ended ; and when the narrative is again 
taken up long years have elapsed, and it is to a man 
of matured powers, trained mind, and disciplined soul 
that w^e are introduced. 



114 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A NAZARITE. 

JoHiq- was ordained to be a J^azarite from his birth, 
for the words of Gabriel were, '^ He shall drink 
neither wine nor strong drink." Luke i, 15. The 
word is from nazir, and denotes that he was devoted, 
by vow, to certain abstinences. The chosen forerun- 
ner of the Messiah and lierald of his kingdom was 
required to forego the ordinary pleasures and indul- 
gences of the world, and live a life of the strictest 
self-denial, several years of which, at least, were to 
be spent in retirement, if not in actual solitude. 

The Jewish Nazarite was one of eitlier sex who, 
for a pai'ticular reason, was consecrated to God as pe- 
culiarly his. Although tlie idea of abstinence and 
self-mortihcation for religious ends has always pre- 
vailed among Oriental nations, it is useless to search 
for a foreign origin of the Nazarite vow as described 
in the Old and New Testament Scriptures. It has, 
to be sure, some tilings in common with similar vows 
among the heathen ; but in its true spirit and ends it 
is so closely associated with the peculiar ideas and 
practices of the Hebrews that it must be regarded as 
a legitimate outgrowth of the religious life of that 



A Nazarite. 115 

remarkable people. It was embodied in Israelitish 
practice from the very earliest times, but the laws 
regulating the Nazarites w^ere not formulated and 
regularly proclaimed until the days of Moses. From 
these laws, as recorded in Numbers vi, we learn that 
the Nazarite must be a totat abstainer from wine and 
all intoxicating drinks. He was not even permitted 
to use vinegar or any preparation of the grape what- 
ever. Grapes and raisins were forbidden. In short, 
he could " eat nothing that is made from the vine- 
tree, from the kernels even to the husks." Thus, 
while vinous stimulus was regarded by other nations 
as an appointed and sacred means of religious and su- 
pernatural inspiration, Hebrew legislation condemned 
excess, honored sobriety, and even exalted total absti- 
nence, on the part, at least, of those who aspired to 
lead a particularly holy life, to the rank of a cardinal 
virtue. 

All the days of his vow no razor was to touch the 
Nazarite's head. His hair and beard must be per- 
mitted to grow unhindered even by the ordinary 
process of trimming. If, as some suppose, the He- 
brew word for diadem contains the original idea of 
nazir^ this unhindered growth of hair was probably 
regarded as a kind of crown to distinguish one who 
was honored by being consecrated to God. To touch 
it, therefore, with knife or razor, and so by man's in- 
vention to interfere with God's work, was a profana- 
tion not to be tolerated. 



116 John the Baptist. 

A most striking resemblance to this Jewish custom 
is found among the modern Persians. 

Morier says : " It frequently happens after the birth 
of a son that if the parent be in distress or the child 
be sick, or if there be any other cause of grief, 
the mother makes a vow that no razor shall come 
upon the child's head for a certain period of time, 
and sometimes for all his life. If the child recov- 
ers and the cause of grief be removed, and if the 
vow be but for a time, so that the mother's vow be 
fulfilled, then she sliaves his head at the end of the 
time prescribed, makes a small entertainment, col- 
lects money and other things from her relations and 
friends, wliich are sent as nezers (offerings) to the 
mosque at Kerbelah, and are there consecrated." "^ 

The Jewish ISTazarite was not permitted to go near 
any dead body, not even that of his father, mother, 
brother, or sister, lest, after being consecrated to God, 
he became ceremonially ''unclean." If by accident 
or any circumstances beyond his control he came in 
contact witlj the dead, it required seven days of 
cleansing, in the observance of many ceremonies, and 
the presentation before the Lord of a special trespass- 
offering, to rid him of his defilement. His head was 
shaved, and since his vow was regarded as broken 
he had to solemnly renew it and begin anew its strict 
fulfillment. 

The Nazarite vow was usually made for a limited 

* Morier's Second Journey, p. 109. 



A Nazarite, 117 

time (Acts xxi, 23, 24), but sometimes it was for life. 
In this manner parents sometimes consecrated their 
unborn children to God's special service, as a life- 
lono^ oblio'ation. We have an illustration of this not 
only in Zacharias and Elisabeth, but in the parents 
of Samuel and Samson ; and according to tradition 
in the early Church, James the Just, the brother of 
our Lord, was thus bound to Jehovah's service."^ 

The Nazaritish vow was not permitted for less than 
thirty days, otherwise impulsive persons might fall 
into the practice of taking it too often, and thereby 
diminish its solemn character. f 

In the Jewish Nazarite we find, however, no war- 
rant or precedent for the Romish anchorite or monk, 
with his vain show of selfish devotion, and his unmanly 
shirking of the ordinary responsibilities of life. The 
Nazarites, with the exception of a few who no doubt 
carried their self-denial to a most unwarrantable ex- 
treme, only denied themselves certain indulgences, 
and separated themselves from certain customs, that 
they might honor God and fulfill their special vows, 
while at the same time they were free to enjoy social 
and family and business life like other men, and to 
engage in all useful vocations. 

"The shrinking avoidance of all Levitical defile- 
ment, which dictated such mortifications, was held 
due to their special consecration to God, whom such 

* Enseb., H. K, ii, 23, 2. 

I Josephus, Wa7\ ii, 15, 1 ; Mischna, Nazir, i. 3: iii, 1 ; vi, 3. 



118 John the Baptist. 

rigid ceremonial purity was supposed to honor. The 
shunning the sight of the dead was but a repetition 
of what was required from the levitically holiest man 
of the nation — the high-priest. Tlie abstaining from 
wine and strong drink guarded against an offense 
doubly evil in one who had given himself to God, 
and was a security for vigor and clearness of mind in 
his service. The uncut hair was, perhaps, a visible 
sign of the sacred and inviolable surrender of the 
whole man to Jehovah. The hair was tlie symbol of 
manly vigor, its crown and ornament; and its un- 
touched locks symbolized the consecration of the rea- 
son and higher powers to God. Thus especially 
'holy,' the life-long I^azarite stood on an equality 
with a priest, and might enter the inner temple, as 
we see in the instance of James the Just. The time 
of Samson and Samuel, toward the close of the period 
of the Judges, seems to have been that of the greatest 
glory of INazaritism, which prepared the way for the 
grander era of the prophets, beginning with Samuel, 
and for the great spiritual movement of the reign of 
the first kings. Less than two hundred years after 
David, however, Amos laments the mockery with 
w^hich the people treated it. Yet Nazarites must 
always have been numerous in Israel, . . . though 
the vitality of the institution must have declined. 'I 
never, through life,' said Simon the Just (about B. C. 
300) 'liked to taste the trespass- offering of a Nazarite. 
Once, however, a man of the South came to me who 



A Nazarite. 119 

had made the Nazarite vow. I looked at him. He 
had glorious eyes, a noble face, and his hair fell over 
his shoulders in great waving masses. " Why do you 
wish to cut off this magnificent hair and be a Nazarite 
no longer ? " I asked him. " I am a shepherd to my 
father," said he, " in the tow^i where I live. One day, 
in drawing water from the spring, I saw my likeness 
below, and felt a secret pride. An evil thought be- 
gan to lay hold on me and destroy me. Then I said. 
Wicked creature ! you would fain be proud of what 
is not yours, and ought to be no more to you than 
dust and worthlessness ; I vow to my God that I will 
cut off my hair for his glory." Forthwith,' contin- 
ued Simon, 'I embraced him and said, Would that 
we had many l^azarites like thee in Israel ! ' " -^ 

A careful study of the lives of Samson, Samuel, 
John, and others makes it evident to us that the 
!N"azarite's abstinence and self-denial were not alto- 
gether for his own good, but he sought thereby to 
benefit the people by inspiring them to like profitable 
temperance and self-control. The evil of gross indul- 
gence of the bodily appetites has always characterized 
Eastern society, and it w^as, in part at least, to meet 
and overcome this tendency that these men, conse- 
crated especially to God, set the example they did. 

Christ was not a Nazarite, but, coming as a model 
to show men how to heed and profit by the preaching 
of John, so far as the manner of life is concerned, he 
* Geikie's Life and Words of Christ, pp. 359, 360, with references. 



120 John the Baptist. 

set a most worthy and safe example in the right use 
of all God's temporal bounty. 

The law of Christian Nazaritism is plainly and 
concisely laid down by Paul in 1 Cor. viii, 13 : 
''Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I 
w^ill eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I 
make my brother to offend." Dr. Whedon aptly 
says: ''Our modern temperance societies are prop- 
erly a Christian Nazaritism. They are a model enter- 
prise aiming to raise the public practice to a standard 
of temperance by exhibiting an abstinence from even 
an otherwise innocent measure of indulgence." 



In the Wilderness. 121 



CHAPTER YIL 

IN THE WILDERNESS. 

AccoRDiNa to a legend of the early Clmrch, John 
was a child of about seven years old when he became 
a dweller in the desert. This receives some little 
color from the expression in Luke i, 80. In 
art John the Baptist in the wilderness is treated 
sometimes as a child, sometimes as a youth, praying, 
or meditating, or attended by angels. In the Prato 
Series, by Fra Filippo, the lonely, beautiful boy is 
praying devoutly with upraised eyes, in the midst of 
a rocky solitude ; or, as by Bugiardini, in the gallery 
at Bologne, as a youth he sits with his mystical cup 
by a stream gusliing from the rock ; or, as by Giulio 
Komano, seated as a child, he plucks a root from the 
ground, which expresses Itis abstinence ; or, kneeling 
by the Jordan in a spiritual ecstasy, he sees a vision 
of the Messiah in the opening heavens above."^ 

It is quite impossible to determine at just what 
time John's life as a recluse began ; but we are cer- 
tain, from the little that is said, that at least in his 
verj^ early manhood he acquired personal independ- 
ence. Taught from infancy that he was in due time 

* Mrs. Jameson. 



122 John the Baptist. 

to become a prophet of the Lord, and to be directly 
connected with the fulfilh.nent of the great hope of 
the nation, his mind must have often been filled 
with great thoughts, to the cherishing of which 
intercourse with ordinary men and the ordinary 
affairs of life was unfavorable. And, too, there 
must have been great conflicts of soul at times, when 
the claims of God and the claims of the world 
were arrayed against each other, fie looked for the 
coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord, 
for the advent of the King of glory ; and this alone 
was sutiicient to lift him to a mental and moral 
plane so much above the life about him that its 
worldly spirit became oppressive and even offensive 
to him. His life as a Nazarite was out of harmony 
with the selfishness of the times ; so, at last and in- 
evitably, he was driven away from the noise and 
bustle and strife of the city, to the quiet and seclusion 
of the " desert," or, more properly, the thinly inhab- 
ited rural region of his native hill-country."^ 

The simplicity of such a life w^as irresistible to one 
of his temperament and purposes. Its calm retire- 
ment was favorable to the special preparation upon 
which he must now enter for the great work to which 
God would soon call him, as a preacher of repent- 
ance, to walk in the honored footsteps and exemplify 
the true spirit and power of Elijah. "It is no secret 

* See remarks on "desert," Whedon on Luke i, 80; Lange on 
Matt, iii, 1 ; McClintock & Strong, " Jb/iTi." 



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Mi 



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-Jl 



ji i'f/; 



liiir: 




lilll 




In the Wilderness. 125 

that God's plan of preparation of those whom he 
calls to be leaders is obscurity for a season, retire- 
Quent in the wilderness^ and into the solitude of pa- 
tient toil, into the unnoticed work of individual sac- 
rifice. Into the wilderness went Moses, where forty 
years were given to preparation for the leadership 
of a people ; into the wilderness went Paul, where 
for three years he w^as disciplined in intellectual 
and spiritual strength ; out of the wilderness came 
Elijah, strong as the mountains of Moab, consuming 
as the flames of Carmel ; out of tlie wilderness came 
the Church, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and 
terrible as an army with banners ; from the wilder- 
ness came John, echoing the past and voicing the 
advent of a new dispensation. In Mohammed's life, 
too, ' it is only at the end of long and solitary vigils 
in the desert that the vision comes which seals him 
far his work.' " ^ 

In the same interesting line of thought F. L. Ewell 
saj^s of John Wiclif: ''He spent some twenty-five 
years in Oxford, in seclusion so far as our knowledo-e 
goes. During all those years we catch only shadowy 
and uncertain glimpses of him. But these years of 
obscurity laid the foundations of his subsequent great- 
ness. In them he learned how to wear his invincible 
armor and to w4eld his mighty weapons. Here he 
mastered the science and the logic and the pliilosophy 
of his day. It was this quarter of a century that made 
* Dr. J. W. Mendenhall, in Echoes from Palestine, p. 157. 



126 John the Baptist. 

him, in the language of his bitter enemy, Knyghton, 
'as a philosopher second to none, and as a school-man 
incomparable.' Best of all, it was doubtless during 
this long period tliat he acquired his astonishing fam- 
iliarity with the Scriptures, and gained that love for 
them and reverence for their authority which were 
destined to lead him so much further than he then 
dreamed. Wellington said tliat Waterloo was won 
at Eton ; meaning, I suppose, that the discipline of 
school-days prepared the way for that great victory. 
So we may ascribe the rich fruit of Wiclifs later 
years to that quarter of a century of quiet obscur- 
ity." ^ 

John's soul found needed repose in the solitude. 
The discords of the great world were left behind. 
Study of God's word, meditation, submission to the 
teachings and leadings of the Holy Spirit, an attitude 
of soul in harmony with the designs of the coming 
Christ, worship and prevailing prayer, all nourished 
his spiritual life and enriched his spiritual experience. 

Such retirement from the active associations of the 
world as a settled manner of life is cowardly, and 
contrary to God's order. The true Christian soldier 
will not hide from the conflict any more than the 
strong wing of the eagle will remain quietly folded 
in its lonel)" nest. " The man who enters into the 
kingdom of heaven learns how to be in contact with 
the world, and yet not to be polluted by it. He does 

* Andover Bevietv^ February, 1885, p. 152, 



In the Wilderness. 127 

not avoid tlie sin of excessive attachment to worldly 
kindred by literally forswearing that attachment, but, 
what is better, by restraining it within its proper 
bounds. It has been said that the best safeguard 
against temptation is distance from temptation. But 
this maxim is unworthy the man of a truly Christian 
courage. The one w^ho actually confronts the enemy 
and overcomes him deserves more honor than he who 
remains unhurt by shunning the sight of the foe." "^ 

Even devotional enjoyments which do not plainly 
help us to better work and higher usefulness should 
be regarded with suspicion. Temporary retirement 
for meditation, prayer and study is only enjoined in 
Scripture for the development of strength to grapple 
with and overcome the practical evils of active life. 
As the eloquent Chinese preacher Sia Sek Ong said: 
'' We cannot go on the mountain-top and build three 
tents and stay there. We must come down among 
the leprous, blind, lame, starving multitudes." 

With John, however, the seclusion of his early 
years was most worthy because most favorable to the 
peculiar training necessarj^ for his peculiar mission, 
which should open as soon as, in soul as well as body, 
he had attained to full and perfect manhood. 

The pure Hebrew faith and worship had nothing 
in common with the ascetic principle. True religion, 
as well as true civilization, has no place or use for 
asceticism ; and John had no sympathy with, much 

-^Bib. Sacra, 1877, p. 179. 



128 John the Baptist. 

less could he have been a member of, tlie order of 
Essenes, which flourished in his times, and counted 
its representatives by the hundreds, hidden away in 
the caves and glens and thickets of the very hill- 
country and wilderness with which his new manner 
of life now made him familiar. Like the Essenes 
he remained unmarried, denied himself all luxuries, 
and ^'showed a prophet-like grandeur in his standard 
of aim and practice ; " but he was no more an Essene 
than he was a Pharisee, for he denounced the spirit 
and aim of both. He was no mere self-lover. He 
v/as not afraid of men, neither did he fear pollution 
from their presence. He loved men and righteous- 
ness ; and, when God's time came, he in the most un- 
selfish manner devoted all his powers to the work of 
lifting men up and making them better because more 
righteous. The Essenes bound themselves for life to 
solitude and the most rigid forms of asceticism ; but 
John was in retirement for a few years only, and that 
not for the sake of such a life itself, but for the sake 
of a great work to be done among men and their 
rulers afterward. Pressense well says: '' Nothing 
can be more false than to represent John the Baptist 
as an Oriental ascetic, a sort of fakir. He was an 
utter stranger to that Indian doctrine which places 
tlie principle of evil in the body and not in the soul, 
and which seeks salvation in asceticism. He was a 
preacher of repentance. Sin was, in his eyes, essen- 
tially a moral deviation, and not a fatality of the 



In the Wilderness. 129 

physical nature. He hated evil with such an intense 
hatred only because he s^w in it a free act. So far 
from pretending to urge man to self-annihilation as 
the secret of his own salvation, he never ceased to in- 
voke and proclaim the true Deliverer. He souglit in 
solitude a haven for prayer — a place of retirement 
in which to prepare, under the secret eye of God, 
for his momentous mission. His austerity was no 
rule, no imposed observance ; it was the very ex- 
pression of his deep spiritual life. He wrapped him- 
self in a rough mantle of camel's hair, and fed on 
locusts and wild honey, only because the great 
thought which absorbed him left no place for minor 
considerations."^ 

The Essenes hated flesh, but John ate without 
scruple the locust of the desert. His preaching 
plainly and forcibly shows that he had no love for 
the unmanly idea that the soul was to be saved 
and the life made pure by forsaking the world. He 
declared that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, 
and, in principles wliich were afterward more thor- 
oughly developed and explained by Christ himself, 
he taught that it w^as to be a kingdom on earth, 
among men, to include all common life, and to find 
its willing, happy subjects in the homes and amJd the 
affairs of every-day existence. 

Such a life as John led in the w^ilderness may at- 
tract men for very different reasons. It may feed 

"^ Jesus Ghrist: His Life and Work, p. 41. 



130 John the Baptist. 

and satisfy an arrogant spirit which cynically holds 
itself aloof from and superior to all other men ; or it 
may serve as an antidote to the feeling of disgusted 
satiety which torments the worn debauchee or Epicu- 
rean. It may even satisfy the religious feeling of 
one who is afflicted with spiritual laziness, or one who 
is selfishly intent on his own salvation alone. But 
John's great and only desire was to fulfill a destiny 
bright with hope and glowing with expectation ; and 
he became a dweller in the wilderness for the sake 
of others, that he might thereby become a worthy 
prophet of God. Study, meditation and prayer 
kindled a divine light in his soul, but it shone forth 
not to promote his own glory, not to draw the eyes 
of men to himself, but to effectually guide them to 
the saving glory of the coming kingdom and its di- 
vine-human King. 

His whole life and work, when at last he stood be- 
fore the people, proved that he was no monk, since 
he evidently had crowded the years with the right 
kind of study and thought ; that he was no mystic, 
since his system of theology was not a dream, but a 
living, glowing, soul-moving reality; that he was no 
misanthrope, since, although he dealt severely with 
men's sins, he gave every possible evidence of a 
fervent love for the race and a bright hope for its 
earthly future. 

If a man would lift up his fellows he must take 
his stand nearer to God than they. For a time, at 



In the Wilderness. 131 

least, he must be separate from them. That he 
might attain to this vantage-ground in the quickest 
and best manner, the Holy Spirit led John away 
where his yearning heart not only cried out for God 
unhindered, but where it effectually found him. 

If a man w^ould lead his fellows to victory over sin 
and error, he must first become a conqueror himself. 
So John went into the wilderness, like Christ him- 
self, to grapple with the sinfulness of his own nature, 
to wage war against the greatest enemies of his own 
soul. When at last he came forth he was covered 
with the scars of many a hard-fought battle. He had 
the voice and the tread and the bravery of a con- 
quering hero. He had the hard- won power of a 
great commander. He could inspire men with his 
own marvelous zeal and hope, he could lead them to 
successful conflict with the spirit and power of the 
world. 

Year after year of his retirement he " waxed strong 
in spirit." In the conquest of self he gathered 
strength for others. In communion wdth the Holy 
Spirit, and in habitual surrender to the divine w^ill, 
he learned to trust every thing to the power and 
demonstration of God. He learned to gather up all 
his soul-powers and to concentrate them as an irre- 
sistible force in the grand but brief work of his 
life. 

Jolin's life in the wilderness continued for the 
space of several years at least. No man ever became 



132 John the Baptist. 

a great moral hero in a day. Under favorable influ- 
ences he must grow up into such gifts and graces. 
The call of God rang louder and clearer in John's 
soul with each passing year, until, at last, with bodily 
appetites subdued, unworthy passions controlled, mind 
developed, heart purified and responsive to the real 
wants of men, " and his whole being raised to a lofty 
invincibility of purpose, he felt equal to taking the 
sublimest and most terrible position into which a frail 
man could be raised by the Almighty — that of the 
herald predicted by his favorite Isaiah, to pioneer the 
way for tlie Messiah of God. He was to fill up the 
vallej^s, and make low the mountains and hills, to 
make the crooked places straight, and the rough 
places even ; that is, to rebuke the lofty and proud, to 
raise up the humble and oppressed, to spare none of 
the crooked policies and waj^s of men, and to smooth 
down their roughness by a hearty repentance, so as to 
fit them for the peaceful entrance of the Christ." ^^ 

* G-eikie's Life and Words of Christ, vol. i, p. 383. 



Manner of John's Life in the Wilderness. 133 



CHAPTER YIII. 

MANNER OF JOHN'S LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS, AND ITS 
INFLUENCE UPON HIM. 

In harmony with his surroundings and the sacred 
mission for which he was now in training, Jolm's 
manner of life in the wilderness was simplicity itself. 
IS'o doubt he was supplied with every thing necessary 
to his comfort and health, during his term of seclu- 
sion and study, in that warm climate and among a 
people of simple habits. But he indulged in no 
superfluities, and every thing w^as of the plainest kind. 
AVhether he dwelt in a house or in one of the numer- 
ous rocky caves of the region we cannot tell ; but in 
either case he was comfortably lodged. His dress 
w^as by no means insufficient, but it was plain and 
common in quality, such as was made and worn only 
by the very poorest of the population. Matt, iii, 4. 
His garments were of camel's hair woven into cloth 
by the rude art of the country-side. 

The hair about the hump and back of the camel is 
closely shorn once or twice a j^ear. Of the finest 
hair a very elegant cloth is made in some parts of the 
East, called camlet. An imitation of this is manu- 
factured in Europe and America of common sheep's 



134 John the Baptist. 

wool. The longer hair the Avsih women spin and 
weave into a coarse but close and thick fabric, some- 
times black and sometimes in black and white stripes, 
which, though somewhat harsh and rough to the 
touch, is not only very serviceable, but a most com- 
plete protection from the elements. Of this coarse 
cloth is made the burnoose, or long, loose outer gar- 
ment with a sort of hood attached, invariably worn 
by the Bedouins. The long, low black tents of the 
Arab encampments, with which every traveler in 
Palestine and Moab is familiar, are also made of this 
cloth, which is impervious to the rain and much 
stouter than either cotton or woolen stuff. Psa. cxx, 5 ; 
Cant, i, 5 ; Isa. xiii, 20. 

This simple but comfortable flowing garment was 
bound around John's waist by a strong leathern belt, 
such as has always been in use among the common peo- 
ple of that country. His long, Samson-like hair was 
probably surmounted by a triangular piece of cloth 
for a head-covering, kept in its place by a cord passed 
around the head, as is still the custom every-where 
among the natives of Syria and Arabia. His feet 
were protected from contact with the jagged rocks 
by coarse sandals made of camel's skin, and fast- 
ened with thongs or small cords of brown camel's 
hair.'^ 

John subsisted upon the simple food used by the 
poor people of that region. He ate dried locusts, 

* Yan Lenuep's Bible Lands, p. 406. 



Ma^nner of John's Life in the Wilderness. 135 

which were " clean " under the Mosaic law (Lev. 
xi, 22), and the honey of wild bees which abounded 
in the clefts of the rocks, and his healthful drink 
was pure water trickling from the springs or stored 
up, after the rains, in the rocky hollows. This plain 
fare w^as nourishing, and highly favorable to vigor of 
body and clearness of mind. 

The eastern locusts have been used for food from 
time immemorial (Lev. xi, 21) by the common peo- 
ple throughout Africa, Arabia, and Persia, and espe- 
cially by the Bedouins of the desert. They are ex- 
posed for sale, for this purpose, in the markets of 
Medina, Bagdad, and even in Damascus."^ Tristram 
speaks of them as '' very palatable," f and any trav- 
eler in the Jordan valley or in Moab may satisfy his 
curiosity upon this point by accepting the hearty 
hospitality of his chance acquaintances in any Arab 
encampment. Following substantially the description 
given by Dr. Thomson and Dr. Yan Lennep,:}: sup- 
plemented by my own observation, it appears that 
when, at certain times, the locusts come down upon 
the face of the earth crowds of people go forth and 
collect vast numbers of them, even loading horses and 
cattle wdth the booty. In preparing them for eating 
they are first thrown alive into boiling w^ater with 
which a great deal of salt has been mixed. When 

* Burckhardt; Yan Lennep, p. 319. 

f Natural History of the Bible, p. 308. 

X Land and Book, p. 420 ; Bible Lands^ pp. 313-319. 



136 John the Baptist. 

sufficiently impregnated with the brine they are taken 
out, and the heads, feet, and wings are removed, after 
which they are thorougliiy dried in the sun and 
packed away in sacks for future use. They are 
sometimes eaten boiled in butter and spread on un- 
leavened bread, when they resemble shrimps in taste ; 
but more commonly they are roasted and then ground 
to a powder, which is mixed with flour and water, or 
flour and dibs from the boiled juice of tlie grape, and 
made into little cakes as a substitute for bread when 
flour is scarce. In the wilderness of Judea several 
kinds of locusts abound, in the dry season more par- 
ticularly, and spring up with a drumming sound be- 
fore you at almost every step, spreading their bright 
hind wings of scarlet, crimson, blue, yellow, white, 
green, or brown, according to the species. At times, 
however, they become so numerous as to fly in clouds 
that fairly darken the heavens, and become a scourge 
to the lands they visit. 

The multitudinous wild flowers which cover Pales- 
tine like a variegated carpet in the spring-time, and 
the aromatic thymes, mints, and other similar plants, 
furnish abundant material for the wild bees which 
have always abounded there ; and the dry recesses of 
the rocks, found almost every-where, and particularly 
in the wilderness, afford them shelter and hiding- 
places, for their comb and young. Vast quantities of 
this palatable food are still gathered there every year 
and stored in skins for home use, or carefully cleansed 



Manner of John's Life in the Wilderness. 137 

and prepared for the market.^ This fact not only 
gives us an intelligent idea of John's wholesome fare, 
but recalls the frequent descriptions of Palestine in 
the Bible as a " land flowing with milk and honey," 
and enables us to understand, among many similar 
narratives, that w^iich Samuel gives of the hungry 
men of Israel, when ''all they of the land came to a 
wood ; and there w^as honey upon the ground. And 
when the people were come into the wood, behold, 
the honey dropped." 1 Sam. xiv, 25, 26. 

By his abstemiousness in contenting himself with 
this exceedingly plain though nutritious food, no 
doubt John intended to represent a perpetual fast. 
" John here presents the symbols of the repentance 
he preaches, according to ancient customs. The hair, 
or sackcloth, the fasting, and the solitude were the 
ordinary signs of deepest humiliation. The whole 
process was a mode of saying, ' We confess ourselves 
by sin unworthy of every blessing, even of food and 
raiment, and deserving to be sunk into humiliation and 
woe.' And John did not this for himself, but for the 
people. He was their representative. He was show- 
ing them by sign as well as by word what they ought 
to be and do. At the same time, by retreating from 
all society, he w^as protesting against the unutterable 
apostasy of the whole social system." f 

Every true, great life will, sooner or later, find its 
wilderness. Full mental and moral stature is not 

* Natural Hist, of Bible, p. 324. f Whedon on Matt, iii, 4. 



138 John the Baptist. 

reached there, but a foundation is laid, in such an ex- 
perience, for the success and usefulness that are sure 
to follow. Says Bishop Home : '' He who desires to 
undertake the office of guiding others in the ways of 
wisdom and holiness will best qualify himself for that 
purpose by first passing some time in a state of se- 
questration from the w^orld, where anxious cares and 
delusive pleasures may not break in upon him, to dis- 
sipate his attention ; where no skeptical nor sectarian 
spirit may blind his understanding, and nothing may 
obstruct the illumination from above ; where every 
vicious inclination may be mortified through grace, 
by a prudent application of the proper means, and 
every fresh bud of virtue, sheltered from noxious 
blasts, may be gradually reared up into strengtli, 
beauty, and fragrance; where, in a word, lie may 
grow and wax strong in spirit until the day of his 
showing unto Israeli 

On the other hand, the selfishness and unlioly tend- 
ency of the monastic idea is justly censured by Mil- 
ton, when he says: '^ I cannot praise a fugitive and 
cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, tliat 
never sallies out and sees her adversary, but shirks 
out of the race, where the immortal garland is to be 
run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly w^e 
bring not innocence into the world ; we bring im- 
purity much rather ; that which purifies us is trial ; 
and trial is by what is contrary."^ 
* Areopagitica. 



Manner of John's Life in the Wilderness. 139 

Before liis retirement from society John's circum- 
stances were peculiarly favorable to a correct knowl- 
edge of the condition and needs of his people. They 
were in the hands of strong enemies. Their bitter 
cry arose to heaven for deliverance. The true hearted 
among them desired no king but God, and no au- 
thority but his law. They looked and longed for the 
Messiah. But the multitudes were full of sins which 
pressed heavily upon John's heart. At times the 
very shadow of death lay upon him. Luke i, 79. 
He saw that God had forsaken the people because 
they had first forsaken him. The holy temple, where 
once was seen the sign of Jehovah's presence and 
favor, had become a den of thieves. Mark xi, 17. 
Even the spiritual teachers of the people were so 
ignorant and corrupt as to be a hinderance rather 
than a help to their disciples. They were indeed 
blind leaders of the blind (Matt, xv, 14), creating 
artificial sins and an artificial conscience. The very 
priests of God, who should have been holy, were a 
scorn and a by-word among both Jews and Romans 
for their utter un worthiness. They had diluted and 
perverted the national ritual until it had utterly lost 
its primal vigor and significance, and become an ene- 
my to true religion. Caste had grown into the pro- 
portions of a curse. The Pharisee, at one end of the 
social line, looked with scorn upon the publican at 
the other end, whom he could not even touch and 
remain clean ; wdiile the publican in turn hated the 



140 John the Baptist. 

Pliarisee with a bitter hatred. The priest and the 
Levite could not help a poor dog of a Samaritan, 
though he had fallen among thieves, and was stripped 
and wounded and half dead, lest the act of compas- 
sion should make them unholy. And so men were 
taught that to be one of " the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel " w^as to be worse than a heathen ; an out- 
cast unworthy the search and the care of the shep- 
herd. The free spirit of the law was forgotten in a 
most servile slavery to the perverted letter of the 
same. 

While still in his teens John had seen the high- 
priesthood polluted by nine different time-serving, 
proud, and even vicious incumbents, elevated to pow- 
er by the will of a degenerate Jewish king, or the 
whim of a heathen governor from Rome, in direct 
defiance of the national law and traditions.* It was, 
indeed, '^an evil and adulterous generation," worse 
in the sight of God than either Sodom or Nineveh 
which he had cursed and destroyed. Matt, x, 15 ; 
xi, 24 ; xii, 39, 41 ; Mark viii, 38. Christ's severest 
sayings were not mere figures of speech. 

From his wilderness retreat the young man John 
now looked down upon this strange, sad condition of 
his country, as from a high watch-tow^er. He was 
sufficiently aloof from these evils not to be personally 
injured by them, and yet sufficiently near to under- 
stand their true nature; and his heart, which beat 
* Josephus, Ant of the Jews, Books xv-xviii. 



Manner of John's Life in the Wilderness. 141 

in most tender sympathy with his race, sought anx- 
iously for a remedy. 

He was a true prophet of the Lord. His soul 
glowed with the intense fire of a wise and holy zeal, 
and he was inevitably directed to right thinking as 
a preparation for right acting. Of John in the wil- 
derness, awaiting the Lord's pleasure. Canon Farrar 
eloquently says ; " Almost from boyhood he had 
been a voluntary eremite. In solitude he had learned 
things unspeakable ; there the unseen world had be- 
come to him a reality ; there his spirit had caught ' a 
touch of fantasy and flame.' Communing with his 
own great lonely heart — communing with the high 
thoughts of that long line of prophets, his predeces- 
sors, to a rebellious people — communing with the ut- 
terances that came to him from the voice of the 
mountain and the sea — he had learned a deeper lore 
than he could have ever learned at Hillel's or Sham- 
mai's feet. In the tropic noonday of that deep Jordan 
valley, where the air seems to be full of a subtle and 
quivering flame— in listening to the howl of the 
wild beasts in the long night, under the luster of stars 
' that seemed to hang like balls of fire in a purple 
sky' — in wandering by the sluggish cobalt-colored 
waters of that dead and accursed lake, until before 
his eyes, dazzled by the saline efiiorescence of the 
shore strewn with its wrecks of death, the ghosts of 
the guilty seemed to start out of the sulphurous 

ashes under which they were submerged— he had 
9 



142 John the Baptist. 

learned a language, lie liad received a revelation, not 
vouchsafed to ordinary men — attained, not in the 
schools of the rabbis, but in the school of solitude, 
in the school of God.""^ 

Pressense, also, seems to justly enter into John's 
thoughts at this period when he says : '' He had read 
in the desert, as none had yet done in Israel, that 
book, at once bitter and sweet, which is the very book 
of God. Doubtless he still imaged the future to 
himself in the coloi's of the past ; his spirit had not 
broken the theocratic mold ; but nothing was more 
foreign to his heart than the dreams of political agita- 
tion which so often stirred his countrymen to revolt. 
He looked for a revolution in the conscience, for the 
yoke which weighed him down was not that of Rome, 
but of sin. The deliverance, in his ej^es, must be of 
the nature of the bondage, and assume a moral 
character. He might liave attained a much wider 
popularity if he had used his fervent words in tlie 
service of tlie passions of his compatriots, for these 
had been wrouglit up to the last degree, since the 
definite annexation of Judea to Syria, which involved 
the loss of the last shadow of independence till then 
retained. But the prophet's mission never w^as to 
follow the tide of the multitude, but to stem it. 
When the time comes for John the Baptist to attack 
the powers that be, he will do it in the name of the 
God whom they outrage ; he will use no other weapon 
* Life of Christy chap. viii. 



Manner of John's Life in the Wilderness. 143 

but liis word. Thus material force will liave no 
power over his testimony, which will stand for- 
ever, like all that belongs to the higher order of 
spirits." ^ 

As John searched the Scriptures, and meditated, 
and praj^ed, the conviction grew clearer and stronger 
in his soul that the only way of escape for his coun- 
trymen was the way wliicli led to the re-establishment 
of the kingdom of God, with the Messiah at its head. 
And that was the way of repentance for sin, putting 
away of iniquity by all classes, works which would 
evidence such repentance and cleansing, and a hearty 
devotion to the w^ill and service of God. His soul 
was, at last, filled with the belief that if the people 
would thus heartily turn to God, not only would the 
Messiah come, but in God's own wise way they 
should be delivered from their oppressors, and the 
final results of their sin and degeneracy be averted. 
His struggles of soul became intensely real, and 
no doubt he pleaded with God night and day, in 
prayers and tears and sore fastings, that he would 
have mercy upon his cliosen though apostate children, 
and send the promised deliverer. Like Moses, he 
was a true patriot, and, innocent of even one selfish 
thouglit, he prayed, and planned, and labored only 
for the purity and prosperity of his countrymen. 

Christ '' in the days of his flesh offered up prayers 
and supplications, with strong crying and tears," for 

* Jesus Christ : His Life and Work, p. 43. 



144 John the Baptist. 

a sinning and captive world, and we are certain that 
before liis day his inspired herald learned well the 
way of lonely prayer and importunate pleading and 
" obstinate faith," as in the desert he also was " wait- 
ing for the consolation of Israel ; and the Holy Ghost 
was upon him." Luke ii, 25. 

At last tliere came to him a profound and controll- 
ing conviction that the long-expected Messiah was 
near at hand, and he became impatient to proclaim 
his advent. While he " was musing the fire burned" 
(Psa. xxxix, 3), and his impetuous nature could scarce- 
ly brook further restraint. Like the trained and vigor- 
ous warrior when the battle is joined, he longed to be 
up and away ; until, at the last, it taxed to the utmost 
all his patience, fortitude, and self-control — disciplined 
as they were by years of trial in the city and the 
solitude — to curb his fiery zeal while he listened for 
the Holy Spirit's almighty " Go ye," which was to 
send him out as the equipped and flaming herald of 
the new day of purity and peace. 

John in the wilderness was a most fascinating 
theme for the graceful and vigorous Irving, who 
wrote of this period of preparation : '' It was a noble 
training for the rebuker and reprover of a world, for 
a greatly endowed and virtuously disposed mind hath 
nothing to fear from solitude. Our Saxon Alfred 
came forth from his shepherd concealment recruited 
by meditation with his own soul, with nature, and 
with nature's God, and refreshed for the deliverance 



Manner of John's Life in the Wilderness. 145 

of England. Gustavus Vasa of Sweden came forth 
from his conceahnent among tlie miners of Dalecar- 
lia, and overthrew in the strength of severe virtue 
tlie oppression of the Dane. Hoffer, whose name is 
holy in the bosom of oppressed ones over the face of 
Europe, before he made his demonstration for the 
Tyrolese retired to the loneliest mountain of the 
Alps and dwelt many days apart from men^ feeding 
upon the milk of a goat, his only companion, and 
then came forth purified from all sinister intention 
by communion with his Maker, to whom, unlike our 
home-bred patriots and reformers, he did devote his 
w^hole soul ; and he ceased not from the work to 
which he had girded up his soul until the earth be- 
neath his scaffold drank the blood which no bribes of 
the usurper could corrupt. And so also of religion 
it hath been found ; for religion and freedom are 
twin-sisters, which may never be parted witliout risk 
to both. Christ, after his baptism and setting apart 
[during his forty days' sojourn in the wilderness], 
doubtless counted the cost of his undertaking. Paul, 
being called, retired three years no one knows w^hither, 
and came forth to shatter the theology and customs 
of Judea, Greece, and Rome. Luther came forth 
from his temporary concealment, like a lion from his 
den, to roar in the teeth of all his foes. Knox medi- 
tated with his noble soul his pious work of reforma- 
tion while he was lashed to the oar like a convict 
upon the rivers of France, and from his place of 



146 John the Baptist. 

banishment lie blew the first blast of his trumpet ; 
after which he returned, like a flame of pure fire, to 
set his country in a blaze of religious ardor, and, like 
a pillar of fire, to guide them in their most glorious 
work. 

''And wliat is there good that cometh not out of 
suffering ? and what is there great that cometh not 
out of self-denial ? what is there new in knowledge 
or in virtue that cometh not out of solitary thought ? 
and what is there noble and lasting in purpose that 
cometh not out of long nursing and strengthening in 
the secret chambers of the mind ? 

"Now John had given unto him the most terrible 
office of attacking every thing in society's customs 
which might impede the progress and success of Him 
that was to follow after. It was needful, therefore, 
that he should be armed at ev^ery point to meet oppo- 
sition, that he should have nothing to lose but his 
life, and nothing that he cared for but the end and 
object of his mission. Therefore, he was taught to 
brave life's hated extremities ; abstemiousness was his 
highest feast, and I doubt not hunger and thirst were 
his familiar friends ; and looking upon the wild 
beasts of the desert, he would not fear the face of an 
infuriated man or a blood-thirsty woman. And what 
lessons of Providence he would learn during these 
trials and troubles of his forlorn estate ! For without 
many such interferences, he must have perished ut- 
terly. And what time for conning the word of God, 



IMaxxer of John's Life in the Wilderness, 147 

and holding communion with Him that was with liis 
people forty years in the wilderness ! 

"And what a nursery for schooling the young 
Nazarite into contempt for those stately forms and 
cunning disguises in which sin doth prank herself, 
the vanities, the affectations, the pomp and circum- 
stance and painted decorations, under which wicked- 
ness hides her shocking head and vile, deformed per- 
son ! What a school for the severe and terrible moods 
of the Spirit which he was called to utter ; what a 
rough training for a rough prophet ! He was to weep 
with no lamentation, like Jeremiah ; he was not to ride 
in the chariot of the sublime, like Isaiali ; or clothe 
himself with the cloudy mysteriousness of Ezekiel, 
nor flee like Jonah ; but he was to strike home at 
every thrust the point-blank of his rebuke ; was to 
shake and shiver and demolish the retreats of self- 
esteem. He was to lay eveiy man a wreck upon the 
waves, and disappoint him thoroughly of all his 
bravery, and bring all to one common confessional, 
and make them passive under the same rebuke, and 
submit them to the same humiliatinp; rite of washino- 
and cleansing. He was to spare no living wight ; 
the portals of the palace were not to be sacred against 
the spiritual leveler, nor beautiful women to be sacred 
from his uncivil tongue. If such a preacher was to 
appear again, even here in this Christian island, leav- 
ing rule aside, and striking into the bosom of ever\^ 
corruption the land groaneth under, why, the relig- 



148 John the Baptist. 

ious would disown him, saying that he was no 
preacher of the peaceful Jesus, and the irreligious 
would wag their heads at him in scorn, and power 
would libel' him, and a prison or worse would be his 
certain doom." "^ 

* Edward Irving's Works, iii, 21-23. 



John's Pcblic Ministry. 149 



CHAPTER IX. 

JOHN'S PUBLIC MINISTRY. 

" So close is glory to our dust, 
So near is God to man ; 
. When duty whispers low, 'Thou must,' 
The youtli replies, ' I can.' " — Emerson. 

At length the moment came for John to quit his 
retirement. The near appearance of the Messiah had 
doubtless been revealed to him (John i, 33 ; Luke 
i, 17), and the voice of God sounded like a trumpet- 
call in his soul, commanding him to seek the haunts 
of men and proclaim the expected Deliverer, who 
should come as a Judge to the impenitent and rebell- 
ious, but as a merciful Saviour to the contrite and 
obedient. 

John's commission came not from high-priest or 
Sanhedrin, but was sent directly from heaven, for 
"the word of God came unto him" as he waited in 
the wilderness. It was a most welcome summons, 
and John girded up his loins for the coming conflict 
with a manly promptness which was the expression 
of a zeal according to knowledge and divine in- 
spiration. 

The Messiah's hour had struck, and the herald was 



150 John the Baptist. 

impatient to declare it to Israel. He knew well what 
prejudice, and ignorance, and hypocrisy, and subtle 
sinfulness he would have to encounter ; but he was ''a 
man full of the stern spirit of solitude, and the 
thoughts God speaks to the soul that can dare to be 
alone," and he w^as not afraid. He was no sleek and 
effeminate priest, no time-serving scribe, no courtier 
from the king's palace clad in soft raiment. He was 
a man for the hour and the work demanded, brave, 
disciplined, quick-witted, self-reliant, rugged, and 
strong — a great man raised up to meet and turn to 
the world's account a great emergency. Men had but 
to look upon him to be condemned for their sins and 
strengthened in the right, while at the first sound of 
his voice they knew that they had found a leader and 
a teacher. Free from all conventionalities and dog- 
mas, from all ritualism and priestly superstition, free 
as the eagles that soar above his head, he comes to offer 
the kingdom of lieaven to his countrymen ; to offer 
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost 
(Eom. xiv, 17) to the wounded and crushed and dis- 
appointed, and to establish a Church into which all 
can come, a Church as wide and free as the bosom of 
his own native hill-country. 

His preaching " was not with enticing words of 
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and 
of power." 1 Cor. ii, 4. No man could dictate what 
he should preach. He took his orders day by day 
from the Holy Spirit. Like liis Master, he was no 



John's Public Ministky. 151 

respecter of persons. He recognized no class dis- 
tinctions. He hated all egotism and selfishness and 
aristocracy. One man's soul was as precious to him 
as another's. He came to herald a world's Redeemer, 
and men soon found that his new Gospel was as free 
as the winds that swept along the crags of Engedi or 
rustled the oak leaves of his own loved Hebron. 

John differed greatly from the other teacliers of 
the desert. They were constantly narrowing in their 
ideas and instructions, more and more influenced by 
the exclusiveness of the life they led, while he was 
as constantly widening. He became daily more prac- 
tical, and liis steady tendency was toward a larger 
field of action. They only imparted their modicum 
of truth to such as carefully sought them out, at- 
tracted by their reputation for sanctity, while he was 
constrained to go forth and reprove his countrymen 
for their hypocrisy and sin, to warn them against the 
just condemnation of heaven, exhort them to abandon 
their evil ways, no longer trust in forms and ceremo- 
nies, and by repentance and faith join themselves to 
the eternal kingdom of heaven. John was more than 
a reformer. He was the bearer of a message from 
the merciful King of Israel to his rebellious subjects ; 
a message which formulated Jehovah's last attempt to 
restore the true spirit and authority of the theocracy. 

John's contemporaries would not be likely to recog- 
nize the authority of a teacher who had not attained 
the age at which the scribes were accustomed to enter 



152 John the Baptist. 

upon their public work as instructors, and the Levites 
to take up their appointed service in the temple 
(Num. iv, 3) ; so he remained in retirement until he 
was about thirty years old, and then, when the hour 
for action came, God's w^elcome and long-expected 
call found him ready for the brief but brilliant career 
which awaited him. Those thirty years had wrought 
great and important changes in the affairs of the 
Jewish people. To quote the excellent resume of 
Dr. William Hanna : 

''At their beginning those intestine wars which pre- 
viously had somewhat weakened the Roman power 
had closed in the peaceful establishment of the empire 
under Augustus Caesar. The dangers to Jewish liberty 
grew all the greater and the impatience of the people 
under the Roman yoke became the more intense ; the 
extreme patriot party, who were in favor with the 
people generally, became frantic in their zeal. After 
the death of Herod the Great, while yet it remained 
uncertain whether Augustus would recognize the ac- 
cession of Archelaus to the throne, an insurrection 
broke out in Jerusalem, which was only quelled by the 
slaughter of three thousand of the insurgents, and by 
the ill-omened stoppage of the great Passover festival. 
Augustus, unwilling to lay any heavier yoke on those 
who were already fretting beneath the one they bore, 
confirmed the will of Herod by which he divided his 
kingdom among his sons, suffered the Jews still to 
have nominally a government of their own, and 



John's Public Ministry. 153 

recoo^nized Arclielaus as kino; over Jndea and Sania- 
ria. His reign was a short and troubled one, and at 
its close Judea and Samaria were attached to Syria, 
made part of a Roman province, and had procurators, 
or governors, from Rome set over them, of whom the 
sixth in order was Pontius Pilate, who entered upon 
his office about the very time when the Baptist began 
his ministry. The lingering shadows of royalty and 
independence were thus removed. Not content with 
removing them, the usurper intermeddled wdth the 
ecclesiastical as well as the civil government of Judea. 
In the Mosaic institute the high-priest, the most im- 
portant public functionary of the Jews, attained his 
office hereditarily, and held it for life. 

" The emperor now claimed and exercised the right 
of investiture, and appointed and deposed as he 
pleased. During the period between the death of 
Herod and the destruction of Jerusalem we read of 
twenty-eight high-priests holding the office in suc- 
cession, only one of whom retained it till his death. 
This dependence on Rome, not only for the appoint- 
ment but for continuance in it, necessarily generated 
great servility on the part of aspirants to the office, 
and great abuses in the manner in which its duties 
were discharged. A supple, sajgacious, venal man 
like Annas, thougli not able to establish himself per- 
manently in the chair, w^as able to secure it in turn 
for five of his sons, for his son-in-law Caiaphas, with 
whom he was associated at the time of the crucifixion, 



154 John the Baptist. 

and afterward for Iiis grandson. Siicli a state of things 
among the governing authorities fomented the popu- 
lar animosity to the foreign rule. The whole country 
was in a ferment. Popular outbreaks were constantly 
occurring. The public mind was in such an inflam- 
mable condition that any adventurer daring enough 
and strong enough to raise the standard of revolt 
was followed by multitudes. Among these insurrec- 
tionary chiefs, some of whom were of the lowest 
condition and the most worthless character, Judas of 
Galilee distinguished himself l)y his open proclama- 
tion of the principle that it was not lawful to pay 
tribute to Caesar, and his political creed was adopted 
by thousands who had not the courage, as he had, to 
pay the penalty of their lives in acting it out. It 
can easily be imagined what a fresli hold their faith 
and hopes as to the foretold Messiah would take upon 
the hearts of a people thus galled and fretted to the 
uttermost by political discontent. The higher views 
of his character would naturally be swallowed up and 
lost in the conception of him as the great Deliverer 
who was to break those hated bonds which bound 
them, restore the old theocracy, and make Jerusa- 
lem, not Rome, the seat and center of a universal 
monarchy." ^ 

In the fifteenth year of the associate reign of the 
Emperor Tiberius, A. U. C. 780, probably between 
August, A.D. 28, and August, A. D. 29, '^Pontius 

^Life of Our Lonl, vol. i, pp. 136-139. 



John's Public Ministry. 155 

Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being 
tetrarcli of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch 
of Iturea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Ly- 
sanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas 
being the high-priests, the word of God came unto 
John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And 
he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching 
the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ; 
as it is written in the book of the words of Esaias 
the prophet, saying. The voice of one crying in the 
wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make 
liis patlis straight. Every valley shall be tilled, and 
every mountain and hill shall be brought low ; and 
the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough 
ways shall be made smooth ; and all flesh shall see 
the salvation of God." ^ Luke iii, 1-6. 

In the above statement " Luke exhibits the true 
historical spirit. Christianity is a religion of facts. 
It stands in its place in history. It is neither theory, 
nor legend, nor myth. Here are its dates, and during 
the rule of these princes, and in the localities here 
designated, the commencing events of our religion 
transpired in open historic day. The challenge is 
thus boldly given to learned criticism to invalidate 
the record. Learned criticism has tried its best, 
and it has totallyd an signally failed. Luke's chron- 
ology is triumphant over every assault, and is in every 

* Lange on Luke lii, 1. Jarvis's Chronologic Introduction, p. 228. sg., 
462, sq. 



156 John the Baptist. 

point true. Tiberius Csesar was the cruel and sen- 
sual successor of Augustus in the empire of Rome. 
Reckoning the fifteen years from the death of xiu- 
gustus, when Jesus was seventeen years of age, Jesus 
would now be thirty-two years of age. But as in fact 
he w^as but about thirty, it is beyond doubt that Luke 
reckons in these fifteen years the two years in which 
Tiberius reigned in connection with Augustus. Pilate 
was at this time procurator of Judea ; an oflice rather 
of a pecuniary nature, yet, in the irregularities of the 
times, extended over every department of govern- 
ment. He was the sixth governor of Palestine after 
the cessation of royalty. He w^as noted for his se- 
verity, cruelty, and despotic will. On one occasion, 
contrary to the practice of the Roman governors, 
who respected as far as possible the religious peculi- 
arities of subject provinces, he introduced the Roman 
standards into the city with the images of the em- 
peror upon them, esteemed idolatrous by the Jews. 
When the Jews remonstrated he threatened to mas- 
sacre them. Upon this they threw themselves 
upon tlie ground, unanimously protesting that they 
would rather die than consent to the profimation ; 
upon which the Roman governor relented. On 
another occasion, when the Jews seditiously opposed 
his expending the sacred money upon the city water- 
works, he sent a body of soldiers with concealed arms 
to fall upon them unawares, who committed a much 
greater massacre than he intended. St. Luke refers 



John's Public Ministry. 157 

to a massacre by him, committed at a passover, when 
he miiioied the blood of certain Galileans with the 
sacrifices they were performing. A similar cruelty 
in the massacre of certain Samaritans, after they had 
submitted, proved the ruin of Pilate. The Samari- 
tan senate sent a complaint of his cruelty to Yitellius, 
president of Syria, by whom Pilate was ordered to 
Rome, to answer to the charge before the Emperor 
Tiberius. Before he arrived Tiberius died ; but 
Pilate was banished by his successor, Caligula, to- 
Vienne in Gaul, where, in mortification for his dis- 
grace, he committed suicide." ""^ 

At this period Caiaphas and Annas divided the 
functions of the high-priest, and disgraced the oflSce 
they usurped. The balance of power rested in the 
hands of unprincipled Herodians, except when at 
times, for a brief interval, the Sadducees, made hard 
and tyrannical by their peculiar religious tenets, 
gained control. It w^as a sad day for the nation. 
Public oppression, private debauchery, and desecra- 
tion of the name and spirit of religion prevailed 
throughout the land. It was in such a state of things 
that John at last came forth from his retreat, as a 
prophet to his nation. A general discontent and a 
general expectancy of some great event which would 
change the current of affairs, together with John's 
unique history and appearance, prepared the people 
to listen to his words. Since the wilderness of 

* Whedon on Luke iii, 1 ; Matt, xxvii, 2. 
10 



158 John the Baptist. 

Jadea was near to Jerusalem, and John belonged to 
a well-known family, and since tlie people were ac- 
customed to seek out hermits of especial reputation 
for sanctity, no doubt many had visited him in liis 
retreat, from time to time, to question him and to 
receive his counsels. The wilderness was in one 
sense sacred to the Jews, as connected with some of 
the most important events of their national history. 
Tlie ancient rabbis say that ''from the wilderness 
came the law, the tabernacle, the Sanhedrin, the 
priesthood, and the olHce of the Levites. Even the 
kingship, and, indeed, every good gift which God 
granted Israel, came from the desert." ^ The present 
invitation to the people by this new teacher reminded 
them of the words of Isaiah : " Prepare ye the way 
of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway 
for our God." Isa. xl, 3. In connection with the ex- 
pectation of the Messiah the influence of the wilder- 
ness was immense. Josephus tells us that, by virtue 
of its weight with the people, Theudas, a wild vision- 
ary who claimed to be a prophet, some years after 
the crucifixion persuaded the multitudes to follow 
him to the river Jordan, which, like Elijah, he could 
divide by his own command, and into the wnlderness, 
where he promised to perform other miracles, and in 
God's name to deliver the people from their oppress- 
ors. At frequent intervals other impostors and de- 
ceivers enticed the multitudes to follow them into 
* Quoted by Sepp, Leben Jesu, ii, 44. 



John's Public Ministry. 159 

the wilderness, but, usually, the Eoman authorities, 
fearing ii revolt, dispersed them, and punished with 
death tlie chief participants.^ Before Jesus himself 
left his disciples he deemed it necessary to w^arn 
tliem not to go out into the wilderness at any time 
when it was said that the Christ was there. Matt. 
xxiv, 26. During all these troublous times the Jews 
were expecting the advent of " a wise and perfect 
prophet," who should bring back the lost Urim and 
Thummim, restore the tribes of Israel, '*turn the 
heart of the fathers to the children," reprove the 
times, and appease the wrath of God, before it broke 
out in fury. Mai. iv, 5, 6. 

From the days of the faithful Ezra the feeling 
among the most righteous had grown deeper and 
deeper that nothing but sincere repentance could 
save the nation from destruction. The rabbis said : 
''If we repent but one day the Messiah would ap- 
pear." Men were taught that the Messiah was to 
lead them back to God by repentance. " As long as 
Israel does not repent it cannot expect the Saviour," 
said Rabbi Juda.f But it was said this repentance 
would not happen till Elijah had come, in fulfillment 
of the prediction of Malachi, and he was not to do 
so till three days before the appearance of the Mes- 
siah, when his voice would proclaim from one end of 
the earth to the other, " Salvation cometh into the 

*Josephus, Ant, xx, 5, 1; 8, 6. 

f The rabbis quoted by Nork, RahUnische QueUen^ pp. 15, 16. 



160 John the Baptist. 

world." "^ The expectation was gradually increasing 
to culmination. 

Thus it is evident that the people were not alto- 
gether unprepared for John's public appearance. Still 
he burst upon the astonished vision of the multitude 
like the flash of a meteor, with his brief and startlinfy 
exhortation, which even rose to the com.pelling power 
of a divine command : " Eepent ye, for the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand ! " 

When the wondering people heard his voice and 
his message, when they looked upon his vigorous 
form and felt the spell of his commanding appear- 
ance and manner, there was no room in their minds 
for doubt that a great prophet had risen up among 
them. 

He spoke with all the authority of an ancient seer. 
The most learned in the sacred books were quick to 
admit that John was no adventurer, but a veritable 
prophet. He quickly won the hearts of the more 
common people, because he gave expression to their 
unuttered groans, and aroused their sinking hope, 
and stimulated their enthusiasm, until the land was 
overspread by a most unusual and intense religious 
excitement. He came to warn, to threaten, or to 
encourage his countrymen, as the case might be, and 
he did his work so skillfully that, for the time at 
least, they seemed completely subject to his will. 
His instructions were thoroughly biblical in charac- 

* Eisenmenger Judenthum Entdecktes^ ii, 696. 



John's Public Ministry. IGl 

ter, but revealing somewhat those influences which 
had brought Oriental and Alexandrine culture into 
the Palestinian schools. He w^as aware of the various 
influences which were shaping the current opinions 
of the most thoughtful among his hearers, and we 
have reason to believe that he w^as fully prepared, in 
knowledge and mental discipline, for the work he 
had undertaken. But above all John was a prophet, 
and the w^ord of the Lord had come to him in the 
wilderness,^ and he adopted a specific line of instruc- 
tion, indicated by his opening w^ords : " Repent ye, 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ! " 

He did no miracle,f but his very appearance and 
words were sufficient to attract instant and prevailing 
attention. He may at first have crossed the track of 
some great caravans from the north-eastern country, 
as they wound their way up and through the mount- 
ain gorges on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. 
From there his fame quickly spread, until crowds 
came forth from Jerusalem and Bethlehem and 
Hebron, and from every town and village of Judea, 
to look upon the strange man —this " true son of the 
desert " — and to listen to his speech. In aspect and 
in dress he is, indeed, like one of their old prophets. 
They are told that he is of the priestly order, and 
the strange " sayings " touching his birth and mission 
that thirty years ago were " noised abroad through 
all the hill-country" are now revived. Some of his 

*Luke iii, 2. f John s, 41. 



162 John the Baptist. 

father's old contemporaries begin to take a deep inter- 
est in liim, and are led to listen most attentively and 
anxiously to his preaching. 

He depends entirely upon the divine power of the 
summons he utters for the desired impression, and he 
is not disappointed in the results. His countrymen 
have long been v^aiting for the kingdom of lieaven ; 
the deepest, warmest desires of their hearts are to- 
ward this kingdom, and now tliis strange man de- 
clares that it is at hand, l^o wonder they go forth 
in crowds to welcome its approach ; no wonder they 
are so ready to obey the herald that its day may be 
hastened ! There was a wondrous spell in the Bap- 
tist's preaching, and the excitement it produced has 
had its parallel but once or twice in the history of 
the race. With one consent the entire population 
of southern Palestine went out to throng around him 
and to follow him as their religious leader and 
teacher. He arose at once to the very pinnacle of 
popularity, but he was too well trained to be harmed 
thereby. He did not lose his head for one moment. 
He forgot himself in his wonderful message, and the 
more the people lauded him the more faithful he was 
to the truth and to tlienj. 

He had nothing in common with the scribes and 
Pharisees ; still he was but repeating to the people, 
under the influence of a new and powerful motive, 
and with a clear and inspiring knowledge of their 
real meaning, the lessons of their ancient prophets. 



John's Public Ministry. 163 

He was simply removing, in his own rough bnt ef- 
fective way, the rabbinical rubbish which had hidden 
the truth for centuries, and bringing it forth once 
more to the light of day in all its beauty and power."^ 

The people who thronged the new teacher were 
principally Jews, and' therefore of mercurial tem- 
perament, and, paradoxical as it may be, were 
also very tenacious of opinion and purpose. Under 
favorable circumstances they could be very easily 
aroused, and accelerated in any course already begun. 
They were restive under foreign rule. Their pride 
w^as deeply w^ounded. They were longing and look- 
ing for relief, for something in their favor. They 
were '' children of the prophets," and the appear- 
ance, style, and teaching of John stirred up all their 
piety and patriotism. The whole scene reminded them 
of the great prophets of old. John had the further 
advantage of being most profoundly in earnest, most 
thoroughly independent, and most self-forgetfully 
courageous. " He listened to the voice of God in his 
own soul and spake right on." No wonder the peo- 
ple gave him a passionate reception. 

The very appearance of John was sufficient to 
arrest attention. His spare form, made strong and 
agile by plain but w^holesome diet, and rough exercise 
in the hill-country and the w^ilderness ; his bright 
Jewish eyes, made fascinating by the living energy 

* Compare Isa. i, 16, 17; Iv, 7 ; Jer. vii, 3-7; Ezek. xviii, 19-32; 
Joel ii, 12, 13 : Micah vi, 8; Zech. i. 3, 4. 



164 John the Baptist. 

that burned within ; his long black hair, uncut for 
thirty years ; and his flowing hair-cloth robe, confined 
about his waist by the coarse leathern girdle, made 
him the very picture of the fiery prophet the people 
were taught by their sacred books to expect. The 
Scriptures described Elijah the Tishbite, whom all 
expected to re-appear before the Messiah, in exactly 
such a guise as John presented — as a long-haired 
man, " and girt with a girdle of leather about his 
loins " (2 Kings i, 8) — and they knew, from the de- 
scriptions they had often heard read in the syna- 
gogue, that the rough hair-cloth mantle had been the 
common dress of the old prophets as a class. Kev. 
xi, 3 ; Isa. xx, 2; Zecli. xiii, 4. It had always been, 
among the Jews, the common symbol of grief and 
contrition, and therefore was at once a strong appeal 
to their sense of guilt and of the necessity of godly 
sorrow. 2 Kings vi, 30; Job xvi, 15 ; 1 Kings xxi, 27. 
Of John the Baptist in art it may be summa- 
rily said that in all early devotional eftigies and 
paintings his personal appearance varies little. Fol- 
lowing the notions prevalent in the Church, rather 
than facts and the brief record in the case, he is rep- 
resented as a tall, meager figure, sunburnt and hag- 
gard, as one wasted with vigils and fasting, and with 
the desert life ; his hair and beard disheveled. In 
the Greek pictures he is seen with black elf locks that 
literally stand on end, and covered only with a gar- 
ment of camel's hair bound with a leathern girdle, 



John's Public Ministry. 165 

the limbs and chest exposed, while the hand is up- 
lifted to warn and testify. Such is the most ancient, 
and perhaps the most frequent, representation. But 
in the more modern schools of art the sense of beauty 
was too strong to be sacrificed to the fitness and the 
truth of things, and, passing to the other extreme, 
John is often represented as a beautiful youth, with 
the form of a young Apollo or a man in the prime 
of life, dignified and benign, and often — particularly 
when standing as Patron and Prophet by the throne 
of the Virgin — he wears over his scanty camel's-hair 
shirt a mantle of red or green flowing to the ground 
in rich, ample folds. 



166 JoHi^ THE Baptist. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELI AS. 

In closing up the canon of the Jewish Scriptures, 
God, through the pen of his prophet Malachi, de- 
clares : " Behold, I will send joii Elijah the prophet 
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of 
the Lord : and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to 
the children, and the heart of the children to their 
fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." 
Mai. iv, 5, 6. 

For nearly four hundred years before John's birth 
the people had regarded these words as the very last 
oracles given with prophetic authority; and, with 
various conceptions of their meaning, were anxiously 
looking for tlieir fulfillment. These prophetic utter- 
ances were as grossly misconceived by the great body 
of the people as were those relating to the coming 
and kingdom of tlie Messiah. Their spiritual eye- 
sight was too dull to catcli tlie real import of the 
sacred words, and they seemed to expect that either 
the Tishbite himself would return in his chariot of 
flame from the heavenly paradise into which he had 
been caught, or that by some strange metempsychosis, 
hitherto unknown, his spirit was to be re- embodied in 



The Spirit and Power of Eli as. 167 

the form of some wise Pharisee who would lead the 
nation to its golden age, or some mighty warrior who 
at the head of an invincible host would exalt the na- 
tional religion and government to their rightful su- 
premacy in the earth. 

This interpretation of the prophecy has been univer- 
sally held by the Jews, and the tenacity, not to say ob- 
stinacy, with which they have clung to this opinion has 
been a great hinderance to their receiving Jesus as 
the Christ. 

Dean Stanley says of Elijah : " He stood alone 
against Jezebel. He stands alone in many senses 
among the prophets. Nursed in the bosom of Israel, 
the prophetical portion, if one may so say, of the 
chosen people, vindicating the true religion from the 
nearest danger of overthrow, setting at defiance by 
invisible power the whole forces of the Israelite 
kingdom, he reached a height equal to tliat of Moses 
and Samuel in the traditions of his country. He was 
the prophet for whose return in later years his coun- 
trymen have looked with most eager hope. The last 
prophet of the old dispensation clung to this consola- 
tion in the decline of the state. In the gospel history 
we find this expectation constantly excited in each 
successive appearance of a new prophet. It was a 
• fixed belief of the Jews that he had appeared again 
and again, as an Arabian merchant, to wise and good 
rabbis at their prayers or on a journey. A seat is 
still placed for him to superintend the circumcision 



168 John the Baptist. 

of Jewish children. Passover after passover the 
Jews of our own day place the paschal cup on the 
table and set the door w^ide open, believing that this 
is the moment when Elijah will re-appear. When 
goods are found and no owner comes, when difficul- 
ties arise and no solution appears, the answer is, ' Put 
them by till Elijah comes.' " ^ 

The prophets were, in a peculiar sense, Jehovah's 
w^atchmen over Israel. They were a sort of person- 
ified conscience to the people. They represented 
divine truth and holiness. They kept a jealous 
eye upon the manners and tendencies of the times, 
and without fear or favor brought the divine author- 
ity to bear wherever they detected any tendency to 
depart from the spirit of real godliness. Such, pre- 
eminently, was Elijah, a man of heroic energy of 
action, whose career, romantic and even marvelous in 
its character, aroused a peculiar interest among the 
people, and was the foundation of many a tale and 
legend handed down among the traditions of the 
nation. Ehjah's actual words were few, but ''they 
w^ere spoken as from the secret place of thunder, and 
seemed more like decrees issued from the presence of 
the Eternal than the utterances of one of like pas- 
sions with those he addressed." 

He came at a time when the most flagrant enor- 
mities were openly practiced in the high places of 
the land, a time when God's law was forgotten or 

* Eistorij of the Jewish Church, Part IT. p. 290. 



The Spirit and Power of Elias. 169 

ignored ; and in liis fearless, direct, and terrible at- 
tacks upon those in authority he seemed the very 
avenging angel of the Most High. So in John's day 
there was, especially among all devout Jews, a re- 
vival of this old expectation that Elijah Avould come 
at this crisis in the nation's affairs, in this time of 
Israel's sorest need, and right all wrongs by peremp- 
torily summoning the people back to righteousness, 
and leading them on to the utter overthrow of their 
oppressors, w^hether in palace or temple. So fixed was 
this expectation that the simple-hearted disciples, 
Peter, James, and John, did not seem surprised when, 
at the transfiguration of our Lord, Elijah appeared 
with Moses to hold high converse, upon the most 
momentous themes, with the divine Redeemer. 
Matt, xvii, 1-13. Their surprise was, rather, that 
Ehjah had again disappeared ; for they thought that 
his place in the Messiah's earthly kingdom would be 
a permanent one, in harmony with the teachings of 
the scribes. In their perplexity they turned with 
questioning words to Jesus, feeling that he alone 
could explain the seeming discrepancy between his 
own statements and the actual facts, on the one hand, 
and the instructions of their national teachers on the 
other. " And his disciples asked him, saying. Why 
the^ say the scribes that Elias [Elijah, called in the 
Septuagint version Elias] must first come?" Their 
question led our Lord to refer to the prophesy of 
Malachi, and to place himself at the time of its 



170 John the Baptist. 

utterance, when the cornmg of Elijah, as John, was yet 
future. He therefore used the future in speaking 
of John's agency. ''And Jesus answered and said 
unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all 
things. Bnt I say unto you. That Elias is come al- 
ready, and they knew him not, but have done unto 
him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the 
Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples un- 
derstood that he spake unto them of John the Bap- 
tist." They were no longer to look for Elias as 
future ; neither were they to look upon this transient 
vision of Elias as the fulfillment of Malachi's predic- 
tion. And yet he said, "Elias is come already," 
meaning (and so the disciples understood him) that 
Jehovah had, by the pen of Malachi, simply desig- 
nated John by the name of the prophet of w^hom he 
was the antitype : just as Christ is called our Passover 
by the appropriation to him of the name which be- 
longed to his type. Our Lord some time previous to 
the transfiguration had made a similar important decla- 
ration on the Elijah of Malachi, when, explaining to 
the multitude the true character of John the Baptist, 
he said: ''This is he, of whom it is written. Behold, 
I send my messenger before thy face, which shall 
prepare thy way before thee. . . . And if ye will re- 
ceive it, this is Elias, which was for to come." Matt, 
xi, 10, M. 

Our Lord thus emphatically declares that John 
fulfilled both prophecies, in Malachi, and that he was 



The Spirit and Powek of Elias. 171 

his forerunner. But it is evident from what follows 
that he did not expect the nation at large to believe 
it. He knew too well the pride and obstinacy of the 
national heart, which had departed so very far from 
the true faith of the fatliers and the prophets. When 
tlie deputation from the Sanhedrin waited upon 
John, to question him as to his character and work, 
he did not deny that he w^as the true Elijah of Mal- 
achi. On the contrarj^, he affirmed it when he said : 
''I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Make straight the way of the Lord." John i, 19-23 ; 
Isa. xl, 3. He iirst denied that he was Elias in their 
sense^ answering to the perverted and unwarranted 
expectation of the nation ; but he irnmediately de- 
clared that he was Elias in the true sense of Malachi's 
prediction. 

The words of Gabriel, in announcing the birth of 
John to Zacharias, throw a bright light upon the en- 
tire reference. " He shall go before him in the spirit 
and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers 
to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of 
the just ; to make ready a people prepared for the 
Lord." Luke i, 17; Mai. iv, 5, 6. Here there is a 
blending of the early and latter portions of Malachi's 
oracle with a reference to Isa. xl, 3, the whole reveal- 
ing to us the true spirit of our Lord's own words, as 
well as those of John himself. He was not Elijah in 
the very person of the Tishbite, as expected through 
Jewish tradition ; but he was Elijah in the spirit and 



172 John the Baptist. 

power of that prophet. For full proof of this we have 
only to review the w^ork done bj both Elijah and 
John, and to consider the spirit with which that work 
was accomplished. 

The points of resemblance between Elijah and John 
are numerous and striking. Elijah w^as described " as 
a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about 
his loins." 2 Kings i, 8. His abode was often, and 
for years at a time, in the wilderness of the desert or 
the solitude of a mountain peak or the friendly clefts 
of the rocks. He seemed to be familiar with the 
secrets of nature, and to wield her forces with terri- 
ble promptness and certainty in asserting his own au- 
thority and vindicating the honor of Jehovah. His 
phj^sical vigor was marvelous, and in duration of 
action he is unsurpassed. He came and went in a 
mysterious maimer ; never found when sought for 
b}^ the royal emissaries who would take his life, and 
without w^arning appearing before tlie court to over- 
awe its power, defy its authority, and carry aw^ay the 
people by the strength of an irresistible fascination. 
In dramatic effect he has no equal among the charac- 
ters of Scripture. The most wonderful part of his 
earthly life was its end. Caught up in a fiery whirl- 
wind, he disappeared from the earth, to be seen no 
more until the glorious day of the transfiguration, 
when, with characteristic suddenness, he appeared in 
solemn council with Moses and Christ. 

John's home was in the wilderness. His raiment 



The Spirit and Power of Elias. 173 

was a long robe of camel's-hair cloth fastened around 
the waist with a leathern girdle. His manners were 
abrupt and unconventional when ministering to the 
multitude or confronted with all the majesty of the 
Sanhedrin, or even when treading the sumptuous 
halls of the tetrarch's palace. A Nazarite from his 
birth, he led a life of simple abstemiousness, kept his 
body in subjection by harsh means, and persistently 
mortified the flesh by crushing many of his most 
natural instincts. Through the severest discipline he 
" waxed strong in spirit," and at last delivered his 
message with a mighty eloquence before unknown to 
the people, and which captivated all hearts. He un- 
doubtedly surpassed his great prototype both in men- 
tal power and in the importance of his special mis- 
sion ; but in strong individualism, boldness in attack- 
ing the bad morals of their times, and reproving the 
selfish conduct of men, as well as in the astonishing 
success of their efforts, Elijah and John were strik- 
ingly alike. The public career of eacli was in a time 
of great unbelief and flagrant apostasy from the law ; 
alike they sought, in all possible earnestness and self- 
abnegation, to win back the people to the faith and 
practice of their fathers. The ministry of each was 
followed by great and terrible judgments. 

" In the spirit and power of Elias ! " These words 
are a striking epitome of John's career : a fearless, 
conscientious, vehement, authoritative, obedient, 

unconquerable " spirit ; " an overmastering, burning 
11 



174 John the Baptist. 

impulse toward all that was honest and good; a 
completeness of endowment which made him the 
most brilliant of his class and the greatest of men. 

A " power " which, going forth single-handed and 
alone as he did, made John the very personification of 
divine authority : a power which rendered him resist- 
less in action and victor in every battle ; the power 
of right and truth ; a power which startled and awed 
a whole nation, which in Elijah controlled the ele- 
ments and in John led the hearts of men captive at 
his will ; a power which compelled Israel to cry out, 
at Mount Carmel, " The Lord he is God ! the Lord 
he is God ! " and the vast multitudes of Judea to be 
"' baptized " in Jordan, " confessing their sins ; " a 
power whicli made Herod tremble before John as 
Ahab trembled before Elijah, and the scribes and 
Pharisees, as well as the priests of Baal, to acknowl- 
edge the authority of the prophet of the living God. 
In Elijah this power wrought miracles, while in John 
it showed forth its grander use in revealing to the 
consciousness of the people God himself. Neither 
John nor Elijah wrote a single page in the book of 
God, but each left an impress npon the heart of the 
Church, and an impulse in the life of the Church, 
the glorious results of which will be clearly felt 
and seen to the very end of time. Elijah and 
John shall forever stand together as the highest 
illustration among men of moral fortitude and faith- 
fulness. 



The Spirit and Power of Elias. 175 

It is thus easy to see why John in prophecy, which 
usually does not deal in names and always throws a 
thin veil of obscurity over its subjects, should be 
called Elijah^ just as Jesus himself was called David^ 
because he was the son and successor of that great 
chieftain and ruler. Hosea iii, 5 ; Ezek. xxxiv, 23 ; 
xxxvii, 24 ; Jer. xxx, 9. 



1T6 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTEE XL 

THE JORDAN VALLEY AND THE BEG^INNING OF THE 
GOSPEL. 

John made his first public appearance on the lower 
Jordan, near the beautiful and populous cities of the 
plain of Jericho. It was a spot peculiarly adapted 
to his purpose. Jericho, " the city of palms and 
roses," had been lately rebuilt by Herod the Great, 
and adorned with his favorite and most costly palace. 
It was also a sacerdotal city ; that is, a city set apart 
for the residence of the priests, twelve tliousand of 
whom are said to have dwelt there in Christ's day, in 
their turn going up to Jerusalem to take part in the 
services of the temple.^ A broad road connected the 
plain with Jerusalem, and, since the fords of the Jor- 
dan opposite Jericho afforded the onl}^ safe crossing 
to Moab and the rich north-eastern country, this w^as, 
of necessity, a much-frequented route for all classes 
of travelers. At certain seasons of the year it was 
fairly thronged by caravans of merchandise and by 
horsemen and pedestrians from Galilee going up to 
the feasts at Jerusalem, w^ho had crossed the Jordan 
at the foot of Lake Gennesaret, and, passing down 

* Luke X, 30-37 ; Whedon on Luke, p. 113. 



The Jordan Valley. 179 

upon the eastern side, recrossed the river at tlie fords, 
and thence to the Holy City, thus avoiding Samaria, 
which was a polluted land to a strict Jew. 

The plain of Jericlio, from the point wliere tlie 
mountains which hem in tlie Jordan on the north be- 
gin to separate to the Dead Sea, is traversed its entire 
length by a deep gulcli cut in the loose soil and sunk 
like a huge canal below the surface, wdth a succession 
of two or three tei-race-like banks marking the lower 
and higher levels in November and April. In the 
bottom of this gulch rolls the turbid Jordan, with a 
quick current, toward the Dead Sea, which is close at 
hand. The immediate banks of the stream are con- 
stantly changing, on account of the loose nature of 
the soil through which it cuts its way. Near Jericho 
the river has a breadth of from ninety to one hundred 
feet, and a varying depth of from three to seven 
feetj and, except in the time of the spring and autumn 
floods, can be easily forded by both man and beast. 
The upper terrace is lined with oaks and sycamores, 
interspersed with thickets of red tamarisks, acacias, 
willows, and oleanders, while the immediate edge of 
the stream is luxuriant with low shrubs and tall, wav- 
ing reeds. West of the river, and from fifty to sixty 
feet above its level, the plain of Jericho stretches away 
a distance of three or four hours ^ to the foot of the 
wild and rugged hills of Judea, which rise from one 
thousand to twelve hundred feet, and up through the 

* An hour's journey, in Syria, is reckoned as three miles. 



180 John the Baptist. 

ravines and along the terraces of which runs the road 
to Jerusalem. East of the river the plain soon touches 
the foot of the Perea range of mountains, towering 
from two thousand to five thousand feet above it. 

In John's day the plain, particularly about Jericho, 
was called " the divine land," because of the green- 
ness of its vegetation and the fairy-like beauty of 
the palm-groves and gardens with which Herod had 
adorned it, and which, b}^ a costly system of irrigation, 
maintained their luxuriance the entire year.^ 

Here in this region, so well suited to his purposes, 
John began his ministrations, f He represented to 
the people that with which they were, theoretically, 
at least, familiar ; namely, righteousness according to 
the law. He represents also, as says Dr. Philip 
Schaff, "the prophetic or evangelical element of the 
Old Testament religion by pointing to ' the Lamb of 
God which taketh away the sin of the world.' He 
united the spirit of Moses and that of Isaiah, and 
stood nearest to Christ, who was the end of the law 
and the promise. Hence he is called the greatest 
among those that are born of women, and yet, as 
still belonging to tlie preparatory dispensation of the 
Old Testament, less than the least in the kingdom of 
heaven. The comparison is not one of personal 
merit, but of stand-point and official position." 

* Joseplius, Ant^ xvii, 13, 1. 

f For a more complete description of the Jordan valley, Dead Sea, 
etc., see Buth the Moahitess. the Ancestress of Our Lord, pp. 94-104. 



TiiK Jordan Valley. 181 

Taking into account the whole development of the 
Gospel John's work was its logical beginning. Mark 
so treats it in the opening of his first chapter ; and 
throughout the a]30stolic age evangelical tradition 
and evangelical preaching always referred to the ap- 
pearance of the Baptist as their true starting-point. 
Dr. J. P. Lange sajs : " The Baptist is the repre- 
sentative and final expression of the wdiole Old 
Testament. But the Old Testament itself, terminat- 
ing in him, becomes one great forerunner, and the 
voice of the Spirit of God in the wilderness, which 
proclaims the manifestation of Christ; that is, it be- 
comes a compendious introduction to the original 
New Testament, springing from heaven." "^ 

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was 
John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness 
of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness 
of that Light. That was the true Light, which light- 
every man that cometli into the world." John i, 6-9. 

Here then is the Light and its witness. The entire 
Old Testament was the historical witness to this 
Light. Jolm, however, the last of the prophets, was 
the only one of the line wlio was a personal w^itness 
to the living and personal Light. In the Baptist we 
have concentrated, in personal form, all previous pro- 
phetic utterances concerning Christ. As " the voice " 
he was the final recapitulation of all voices in all the 

* Comment on Mark, chap. i. 



182 John the Baptist. 

ages which had proclaimed a coining Messiah. In 
the gradual unfolding of the genealogical life of 
Christ we have what has well been called the hidden 
side of the Old Testament ; while in the clear pro- 
phetic testimony concerning his advent we have the 
visible side. The verbal prophecy necessarily antici- 
pated the real prophecy, and so the fulfillment of the 
verbal prophecy in John preceded the fuliillment of 
the real prophecy in Christ. Therefore John is here 
set in the right place by the evangelist. He is the 
glowing radiance of the dawn, witnessing and her- 
alding the advent of the Sun of Righteousness sweep- 
ing up the sky with healing in his wings.'^ 

Having effectually guarded us against confounding 
John with Christ, the evangelist proceeds to give a 
sketch of the incarnate Logos as entering, operating, 
and dwelling in our living world. In opposition to 
every false light he is the only true Light, '' which^ 
coming into the world, enlighteneth every man^'^^f 
so that he need not, of necessity, be environed with 
a darkness which cannot be penetrated by the light. 
The full warrant for tliis staten^ent is found in the 
fact that from the Logos a strong moral consciousness 
has been implanted in the original nature of every 
man ; and when, in certain ages and conditions, sin 
has darkened or dulled that consciousness, the Logos 

*Mal. iv, 2, and Professor Packard's comment in Lange on 
Malachi. 
f See rendering of the best commentators. 



The Jordan Valley. 183 

— tlie Christ — has shed liis beams of truth and love 
upon it, quickening its life and strengthening its au- 
thority. This has been often unappreciated and in- 
deed unwelcome ; but, like the blessed rain from 
heaven, it has graciously fallen upon the just and the 
unjust in all ages, but especially, and most benignly, 
during the incarnation. 

''John, the Baptist," says the author of Ecce 
Hoino^ " was like the Emperor Nerva. In his career 
it was given him to do two things — to inaugurate a 
new regime^ and also to nominate a successor who was 
far greater than himself. And by this successor his 
work was taken up, developed, completed, and made 
permanent ; so that, however John may have seemed 
to his own generation to have lived in vain, and 
those scenes on the banks of the Jordan to have been 
the delusive promise of a future that was never to 
be, at the distance of near two thousand years he 
appears not less, but far greater, than he appeared to 
liis contemporaries, and all that his baptism promised 
to do appears utterly insignificant compared with 
what it has actually done." 



18i John the Baptist. 



CHAPTER XII. 

JOHN PREACHES REPENTANCE. 

There was great variety in the congregation 
which gathered around the eloquent young preacher. 
He no doubt recognized in the crowd many with 
whom he had associated in early life, as well as 
many aged and influential men whom he had been 
taught to revere because of their learning, piety, and 
high position. The rich and the poor were there, 
and every occupation and profession in Jewish life 
was represented. But John made no distinctions 
among them. In the stern tones of authority he ad- 
dressed them all with the exhortation : " Repent ye, 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

"It has sometimes been said that the repentance 
inculcated by John was merely that of the Old, not 
that of the ITew, Testament. But, even granting 
this, we nmst remember that John cherished the 
spiritual views of repentance propounded by the 
prophets, and not the common legal notions of the 
Jews, and that he represented the Old Testament in 
its point of transition to the New. The Baptist evi- 
dently regarded repentance as a change of mind. 
He was aware of the difference between mere out- 
ward and real repentance — between transient feel- 



John Preaches Repentance. 185 

ings and that deep change which manifests itself by 
corresponding fruits of righteousness. His idea of 
repentance exceeded the outward requirements of 
the Mosaic law. In his view repentance implied an 
entire renunciation of the world — dying to the old 
and consecration to a new life. Besides, it is im- 
portant to bear in mind that the Baptist seems to 
have already, in some measure, realized the rejec- 
tion of the unworthy portion of the race of Abra- 
ham and the calling of the Gentiles. But the 
great point of distinction lies in this : that the 
repentance which he enforced must have sprung 
from faith in the predictions regarding the coming 
Messiah." ^ 

It was a most humbling doctrine that John preached 
to his countrymen— a doctrine whicli assumed that 
they, as representatives of the nation, were wicked, 
ignorant, and in spiritual darkness. But it was also 
a compassionate doctrine ; for it gave hope to the de- 
spairing, stretched out a helping hand to the fallen, 
and flashed a supernatural light athwart the eyes of 
the spiritually blind. It was a doctrine well calcu- 
lated to prepare the way of the Lord, and to make his 
paths straight ; to fill up the valleys and level down 
the hills, and to make the rough way smooth, that the 
conquering King might come in all his glory and 
power, and all flesh be fitted to see the salvation of 
God. Isa. xl, 3-5. 

* Dr. J. P. Lange on Matt, iii. 



186 John the Baptist. 

The great argument by which the preacher recom- 
mended and enforced his salutary doctrine was this : 
" The kingdom of heaven is at hand." A long time 
had elapsed since the nation had been taught by any 
direct divine manifestation ; but soon the nation's true 
King would appear in a personal reign of wisdom and 
grace. There would be a new display of divine per- 
fection, for God himself would dwell among men, in 
human form, to teach them how to follow the law and 
the prophets by being loyal subjects in the new dis- 
pensation for which the Old Testament was the prep- 
aration. True men, regenerate men, were now to be 
made to sit together '4n heavenly places in Christ." 
One thing John certainly made plain to every listen- 
ing Jew ; namel}^, that theocratic descent and the ob- 
servance of outward forms and ceremonies ^vould not 
secure admittance into the Messiah's kingdom; would 
give no claim to the Messiah's mercy or consideration. 
Jehovah would sift his people, and only those who 
repented of sin and error, and brought forth fruits 
which proved the genuineness of their profession, 
could hope to be reconciled with him. Luke iii, 8, 9. 
Repentance involved reconciliation with God, as well 
as sorrow for sin. A new and supernatural life must 
be bestowed upon the true penitent. This change 
John knew that he could not effect, but he did not 
fail to point the inquiring heart to the coming Christ 
as able to save to the uttermost. 

John's call to repentance was not essentially differ- 



John Preaches Repentance. 187 

ent from that which had been sounded in the ears of 
Israel by every prophet of God. From Moses to 
Malachi their divine commission had been to exhort 
and command the nation to repent of sin, as a prepa- 
ration for God's mercy and a refuge from impending 
calamity. And now the very last of the prophets, 
his heart stirred to its profoundest depths with love 
and anxiety for his race, and his soul lifted above all 
fear of possible danger to himself, boldly denounces 
the sins of Israel, and faithfully points out the wrath 
of God to come if this one last chance for reforma- 
tion, and consequent restoration to divine favor, is 
ignored. 

In harmony with every proyjhet w^ho had gone be- 
fore him, the Baptist declared that God had no pleas- 
ure in the death of a wicked man or a wicked nation, 
but that his one purpose was to persuade them to turn 
from evil and to live. It was not the destruction of 
the tree that the divine husbandman sought, but its 
thorough purification and its abundant fruitfulness. 
His delight was not in burning the chaff, but in safely 
garnering the wheat. Luke iii, 9, 17. Repent, and 
turn unto the Lord, was the gracious command, and 
the kingdom of heaven — an eternal reign of perfect 
truth and love — was the more gracious promise. There 
was nothing particularly winning in the call to repent- 
ance — it was too terrible in its reproofs and denuncia- 
tions for that — but the proclamation that the long- 
prayed-for kingdom of heaven was already at the door, 



188 John the Baptist. 

and that every man must make haste to be ready for 
it, met the deepest and most sacred wishes of the 
national heart. 

John did not conceal from his hearers the fact that 
the coming kingdom would severely test and expose 
all who were morally unlit to accept its King. He 
clearly intimated that it was not to be a Jewish king- 
dom, or a Roman kingdom, but a kingdom above all 
national hopes and ambitions, a universal kingdom of 
justice and grace. Every character would be tried as 
by fire, and the learned rabbi as well as the Roman 
ruler, the proud Pharisee as well as the despised pub- 
lican and outcast sinner, must enter the kingdom, 
if he enter at all, through the narrow door of peni- 
tence, and be exalted to full citizenship solely by the 
grace which operates through self -forgetful, obedient 
faith. 

No doubt, when John spoke of the wrath to come, 
he voiced a fear, which was almost universal in the 
hearts of men, that some terrible judgment was about 
to be visited upon a wicked world. All thoughtful 
men were anxious about the future, and the Jews, es- 
pecially, readily grasped the teaching that a moral 
and spiritual change was the sinner's sole defense 
against the force of divine wrath. The Hebrew con- 
science seemed to be suddenly aroused, as by some 
supernatural enlightenment, to enforce the prophet's 
call. From the Pharisee whose noble lineage, pro- 
found learning, and exact observance of the law fitted 



John Preaches Repentance. 189 

liim to be a ruler and leader of the people, down to 
the man or woman so hopelessly unclean that the 
temple and the ritual furnished no place for repent- 
ance, all heard the fearless call, the imperative com- 
mand, and hanging, as if for life or death, upon the 
prophet's words, submitted to his authority that they 
might share his hope of mercy and blessing to come. 
So pressing is the need, and so quick is the response 
to John's message, that Jerusalem herself — the 
holy city, the habitation of Jehovah, the very type 
of purity and sanctity — goes out into the wilderness 
as a penitent, to humbly confess her sins and 
thus put herself in the way of pardon. Heb. xiii, 
13-21. 

If, John had counseled with the learned leaders of 
the nation, they would have recognized, no doubt, tlie 
need of divine mercy ; but, like many of modern 
times, they would have urged him to respect the 
prejudices and the customs and the social con- 
ditions of men, particularly the influential; they 
would have recommended a soft gospel, that spoke 
not of judgment, but persuaded without giving 
offense. But John was too w^ise and too honest for 
that. The Holy Spirit revealed to him, in a meas- 
ure, the hearts of men. He saw their corruption and 
their struggles for purity ; he heard their sighs and 
groans. The remedy he offered was sharp and griev- 
ous to tlie soul, but it was the only remedy that could 
reach tlie disease. The case was urgent ; it called 



190 John the Baptist. 

for heroic treatment, and the physician was skillful 
enough and brave enough to give it. He seemed 
harsh and unsympathetic, but he was really compas- 
sionate and kind. He knew that the rankling thorn 
must be entirely withdrawn from the festering flesh 
before the healing virtue of the ^^ precious ointment" 
could avail. Many of the people before him were 
proud ; they hated to repent, they hated to denounce 
their own past lives, they did not want the world to 
know their real cliaracters. But without repentance 
and confession, at least to God, there was no honesty ; 
and without honesty there was no mercy and pardon. 
There is no help for the prodigal while he eats and 
sleeps among swine. He must arise and hasten, by 
the shortest road, back to the father, with honest pen- 
itence in his heart, and honest confession upon his 
lips. By so doing he shall enter into forgiveness, 
home, and the kingdom of heaven. The restless soul 
cannot be pillowed upon a lie, however soft and beau- 
tiful it may be made to appear ; but the truth can 
bring peace and rest to the weary one, though it be 
hard and rough as Jacob's bed at Bethel. Gen. xxviii, 
10-22. So, from the very tenderness and love of his 
strong heart, John offered men only the rugged truth 
when he said, " You want rest ; repent, therefore, and 
prove your sincerity by your deed^, and yon shall find 
rest unto your souls. This is the only way ; walk ye 
in it!" 

There is something, in all human nature not 



John Preaches Repentance. 191 

uttei-l y debased, that compels a man to respect faith- 
ful dealing; so it is no wonder the people thronged 
this new teacher. Men may applaud the silver- 
tongued time-server, who utters soft and beautiful 
tilings, and, deluded for the moment, may spurn a 
plain and pointed but full gospel ; nevertheless, in the 
day of realities, the day when all principles and char- 
acters are tried as by fire, they will forsake the one 
and cling with the resistless grasp of a last hope 
to the other. The voice of conscience can never be 
completely huslied ; and when God's preacher is bold 
enough and great enough to break through all bar- 
riers of custom and corrupt tastes, to rise above all 
self-seeking and all desire for human applause or fear 
of human censure, and plainly tell every man that he 
is a sinner, and must repent or he can never, by any 
possible chance or favor, be saved, there is that with- 
in the human soul which cries out in response, " It 
is the truth. I know it is the truth ! '' Say what you 
will, men need, and long for, honest, fearless, plain 
speech in all matters which relate to salvation and 
eternity. 

Men came to John's baptism enveloped in the 
clouds and darkness of God's wrath, but they went 
away rejoicing in the dawning sunlight of his coun- 
tenance. '' Repent! repent!" cried the preacher; 
but he quickly added, " for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand;" thus throwing wide open the door of 

endless life to all true believers, and preparing them 
12 



192 John the Baptist. 

for the words of the great Teacher himself, who 
said, '' Blessed are the poor in spirit " — those self- 
conscious sinners, who are morally bankrupt and 
are willing to confess it, who have a receptive 
vacancy for the Gospel, and look to nothing else 
to make them rich — " for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven ! " 

Never was a great doctrine more vividly revealed 
in the character and acts of a great man than was this 
vital doctrine of repentance in John himself. In ap- 
pearance, in speech, in concentration of all effort, in 
self-forgetful earnestness, and even in the choice of a 
place in which to deliver his message, he was a 
worthy exponent of his startling theme. In him 
the great doctrine of repentance became a living, 
tangible force among men, just as love was seen 
in Christ, and justification by faith found its highest 
illustration in Paul. Repentance was seen coming 
and going in a prophet's mantle, consorting with 
men, entering their homes, and controlling their' 
hearts. 

Renan most justly saj^s : 
" In morality, as in art, words are nothing, 
deeds are every thing. The idea which is con- 
cealed beneath a picture of Raphael is a small- 
thing ; it is the picture alone that counts. Likewise, 
in moralitj^, truth becomes of value only if it pass to 
the condition of feeling, and it attains all its precious- 
ness only when it is realized in the world as a fact. 



John Preaches Kepentance. 193 

Men of indifferent morals have written very good 
maxims. Men very virtuous, also, have done nothing 
to continue the tradition of their virtue in the 
world. The palm belongs to him who has been 
mighty in word and in work, who has felt the 
truth, and, at the price of his blood, has made it 
triumph." ^ 

* Life of JesuSy chap. v. 



194 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

JOHN'S CONaREGATION. 

The spot which John had chosen for the delivery 
of his message, in its scenery and in its historical as- 
sociations, gave emphasis and momentum to his utter- 
ances. Here the men of Jerusalem breathed a purer 
air ; and in the expanding plain, the towering mount- 
ains, the graceful palms, the fruitful vineyards, and 
the rippling water they were brought face to face 
with God. These quiet and more natural surround- 
ings were the very conditions they needed to help 
them to the fullfilment of an honest purpose. They 
could not fail to remember that here w^as the first 
exhibition of God's just wrath against sin unrepented 
of, in their history as a people. Gen. xix. Here 
their forefathers were first led into the promised 
land, and taught that Jehovah would be with them 
there to help and protect them. Josh, iii, 6. Here 
Elijah — who some of them thought had now come 
again — ended his unique career as the stern instru- 
ment of divine judgment against apostasy and idol- 
atry, and the gentle renewer of the broken covenant ; 
and here he was caught up toward heaven in the 
fiery storm-cloud, which was to him and to Elisha 



John's Congregation. 195 

the glowing symbol of Jehovah's power still set for 
tlie defense of his people against the aggressions of a 
foreign foe and the curse of a foreign faith. 1 Kings 
xvii; 2 Kings ii. With such a message upon his 
lips, and with such an environment, the great preacher 
did not speak in vain. Centuries had elapsed since 
his countrymen had been aroused and moved to such 
spiritual activity as that into which he now led them. 

They forgot their proud self-righteousness, and 
confessed themselves sinners. They suddenly realized 
that they were the people of God in name only. The 
bold, clear voice of reproof from the banks of the 
Jordan reached every part of the land, and, re-enforced 
by conscience, it seemed to dominate every other in- 
fluence. Even the priests and scribes ceased their 
senseless controversies and listened, and, as they list- 
ened, trembled. ^'^For one splendid moment the 
nation awoke to the meaning of its singular and sub- 
lime faith," rose superior to its degradation, burst 
the shackles of ritualism and superstition, forgot the 
oppression of its haughty Roman conqueror, and 
welcomed once more the reign and righteousness of 
God. 

Dr. E. E. Hale says in his peculiarly graphic man- 
ner: "All sorts of people came together here who 
were not accustomed to come into the wilderness, 
and they came from all sorts of places. They were 
people not much used to seeing each other, too. 
Real Bedouin, who were quite at ease in camp life. 



193 John the Baptist. 

came face to face with quiet people, town-bred, 
who were a good deal astonished to find themselves 
sleeping under the stars, or sitting around a fire to- 
gether telling stories in the open air before bed-time 
came. Jerusalem Jews were not over-civil, as we 
know, to Gentile people ; and neither of them had 
much fancy for the people who belonged to Edom, 
on the eastern side of the river; and all of them 
hated the soldiers through and through. But old prej- 
udices or old likings were, in this case, swayed and 
overruled by the eager desire to know what Elijah 
had to say, if he were Elijah, and what Elijah wanted 
them to do so that they miglit be free of these 
grinding oppressions. Here was a camp with a 
leader. It all looked as if it might be used for a pur- 
pose. These people assembled as if they meant to 
do something." Every village and city of Judea, 
and GaHlee, and Perea, and the land east of the 
Jordan was liberally represented. Pharisees and 
Sadducees were there in great numbers ; priests and 
Levites, scribes and elders, and even publicans and 
sinners, were permitted to mingle with the expectant 
throng. Arabs from the desert stood side by side 
with rich merchants and haughty doctors of the law 
from the " best society " of the capital city. War- 
riors from the Eoman and Herodian armies added to 
the picturesqueness of the scene as their bright arms 
and armor flashed in the sunlight. All came to hear 
the prophet ; some from desire to know the truth. 



John's Congregation. 197 

from whatever source it might come; some with 
hearts wildly beating with " the hope of Israel," and 
some with no liigher motive than idle curiosity ; but 
all remained to be brought completely under the spell 
of the great preacher's eloquence, to confess their past 
sins, to be taught the meaning of the kingdom of 
heaven which was at hand, to be baptized into the 
new life, and to be filled with an eager expecta- 
tion of the Messiah of God. All true penitents who 
inquired the way of life found in this severe ascetic a 
sympathetic friend and a patient teacher. There was 
no mystery either in his system or his sermons ; no 
vague and high-sounding words ; on the contrary, he 
spared no pains to adapt his instructions to their 
special condition and circumstances. While John's 
immediate disciples imitated his own ascetic piety in 
their preparation as preachers of repentance, he did 
not require any of the people to abandon their or- 
dinary line of life, even when it was one obnoxious 
to his Jewish prejudices. All he asked was that they 
should fulfill their respective duties with honesty and 
fidelity. He emphatically commanded all alike to do 
good ; but only those who were engaged in out and 
out sinful occupations were required to abandon 
them. Luke alone gives us a detailed account of 
the manner in which the preacher strikes at and most 
effectually hits their prevailing sins. Luke iii, 1-18. 
His one object is to prepare the way of the Lord, to 
furnish full scope for the kingdom of heaven ; and to 



198 John the Baptist. 

do this he must tear down the kingdom of Satan, he 
must work a genuine and tliorough reform. He 
bade them bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, 
otherwise they should be destroyed hke a worthless 
tree lit only for the ax and tlie fire. 

And they asked him, ''What shall we do then?" 
that is, as works to sliow the genuineness of our re- 
pentance, that we may escape the boldly threatened 
wrath. In reply to their question he points them to 
their besetting sins, and plainly tells them that, if 
their repentance be scriptural, they will at once aban- 
don those sins. He makes a practical application of 
the truth, and he w^ants practical results. We have 
only a sketch of the conversation between the prophet 
and these candidates for the baptism of repentance ; 
but, from the whole tenor of his life and teachings, 
w^e are to conclude, as a matter of course, that he did 
not fail to join the Gospel to the law, and to show 
his hearers that, if thus repented of, sin would be 
forgiven through the forbearance of God, in view of 
the atonement to be made by the quickly coming 
Messiah. 

In his reply John groups the multitude into three 
classes, and he first says to the jpeojple : " He that 
hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath 
none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." 
Thus he rebuked the spirit of selfishness and legal 
or illegal robbery that prevailed in that day "and un- 
fitted the nation to come to Christ when he should 



John's Congregation. 199 

appear; and he prescribes, as a proof of true con- 
trition and heart-readiness to receive the truth, the 
very reverse of that spirit, to be illustrated in works 
of benevolence and love, anticipating the pure pre- 
cepts of the apostle who said : " Pure religion and 
undefiled before God and the Father is this. To visit 
the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to 
keep himself unspotted from the world." James i, 27. 
In this John showed his exact knowledge of human 
nature ; for if the surplus of the rich and the com- 
fortable, both in food and clothing, should find its 
way in charity to the poor and destitute it would be 
good evidence that repentance was more than a mere 
form witli at least a jDortion of his hearers. 

The second class addressed are the jpicblicans^ who 
were very unpopular with the people at large, be- 
cause they had accepted office under the Roman 
government, and, consequently, represented a hated 
foreign dominion. Their covetousness had overridden 
their conscience and their patriotism at the outset, so 
it is not strange that they often extorted more than 
the regular rates of taxes, and, by pocketing the 
surplus, became quickly rich. John was too wise a 
man to deny the right of the existing government to 
levy and collect reasonable taxes for its maintenance ; 
but the publicans, as a class, had misrepresented the 
government and abused their power, and so fostered 
dishonesty and selfishness in the land, and sadly 
lowered the tone of public morality. So, without 



200 John the Baptist. 

wasting words, he added the force of his stern com- 
mand to the authority of their aroused consciences, 
and plainly told them to cease exacting from the 
defenseless people more than was just — thereby sow- 
ing good seed, which came to its harvest at least in the 
heart of one publican of Jericho, who some three 
years afterward was prepared not only to entertain 
Jesus as his guest in his owm house, but to receive 
him as his personal Saviour from sin, thereby becom- 
ing, not in name alone, but in very truth, " a son of 
Abraham." Luke xix, 1-10. 

In the congregation were also many soldiers, repre- 
senting a most numerous aud important class in those 
turbulent times. To such of these as were truly 
penitent he said : Prove your penitence by being 
good soldiers, by obeying orders in the proper per- 
formance of your military duties ; but cease all that 
illegal violence which makes you ruffians and robbers 
instead of defenders of the nation and supporters of 
just law. And to this he added the command, 
" Be content with your wages," without pillaging the 
people, thereby plainly sanctioning their continuance 
in military service, since war, as an act of govern- 
ment, under certain circumstances, is not contrary to 
the divine law, but most evidently a part of its 
execution. 

These answers to the question, '^ What shall we 
do ? " were exactly adapted to the times, and, as 
sharp reproofs of current evils, were worthy tlie great 



John's Congregation. 201 

preacher and prophet — the last of a line that, without 
exception, had dealt faithfully with Israel ; of which 
a Nathan had reproachfully said to a mighty but 
sinning prince, " Thou art the man ! " and an Isaiah 
had written, " Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? 
to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy 
burdens, and to let the oppressed go ^free, and that 
ye break every yoke ? Is it not to deal thy bread to 
the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are 
cast out to thy house ? when thou seest the naked, 
that thou cover him ; and that thou hide not thyself 
from thine own flesh ? " Isa. Iviii, 6, 7. 

John would no longer countenance the national 
trust in external forms; he must, therefore, see 
broken-hearted contrition manifested by practical 
works before he could hope to see the fulfillment of 
the prophecies of the Messiah's advent and reign. 



202 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTER Xiy. 

JOHN'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PHARISEES AND 
SADDUCEES. 

For the most part John's rebukes were of a gen- 
eral character, but he made an exception in the case 
of the Pharisees and Sadducees, to whom his sharpest 
words had a special application. The Pharisees rep- 
resented the aristocracy of orthodoxy, and were the 
self-appointed custodians of the national conscience. 
They were as intolerant of free thought and free 
speech as they were of every form of foreign faith. 
They were the national party. They had so consoli- 
dated the religious system of the fathers, and elab- 
orated into detail the principles of the Mosaic code, 
as to effectually restrict and even enslave the spiritual 
life of the nation. The chains of creed and ritual- 
ism were well-nigh unbearable, but they were also 
unbreakable. The Sadducees, though ready to deny 
the resurrection and the immortality of the soul, 
were always among the foremost in seeking the 
highest judicial and sacerdotal offices ; and while they 
professed to have no hope of a heavenly life they 
allowed no one to question their right to the best 
places in this life, and especially in the coming king- 
dom of the Messiah. They were subservient, as a 



Pharisees and Sadducees. 203 

sect, to the Roman power. Pharisees and Sadducees 
ahke made tlie proud boast, " We have Abraham for 
our father ; " and, bitterly as they hated and opposed 
each other, they firmly joined hands in resisting all 
extension of Abrahamic privileges to the Gentile 
world. Aroused by the common excitement, and 
inspired by common curiosity, they came out into the 
wilderness to watch this new movement and to 
watch each other. They had ranked themselves 
among John's disciples with the selfish desire to 
secure for their class the prestige of his name. 
Although John had dwelt for years in the desert 
he seemed to be well informed as to affairs out- 
side his retreat. It was not necessary, therefore, 
for him to be told w^ho the Pharisees and Sadducees 
w^ere, or what were their peculiar and distinctive 
faults. His keen spiritual insight at once penetrated 
the thin veil of deceit with w^hich they sought to 
cover their real purpose in coming to his ministry, 
and he lost no time in exposing their hypocrisy with 
sharp and merciless words. He knew that they were 
the real corrupters of the nation ; and althougli they, 
to a great extent, gave direction to public opinion, 
and he was really risking his life by offending them, 
he did not waver, even for an instant, but fearlessly 
revealed their true character to the people they had 
duped, follow^ing up his resistless attack with exhor- 
tations to repentance and offers of divine mercy. He 
valiantly pierced hypocrisy to the heart, although at 



204 John the Baptist. 

the 8ame moment he might sign his own death-war- 
rant. Says Whedon : " No apology must be made 
(as by Van Oosterzee) for the denunciatory preaching 
of John ; no more than for the thunder and smoke 
of Sinai, or for the fire and brimstone of Gehenna. 
Neither commentator nor preacher should effeminately 
shrink at the ' mention of hell to ears polite.' Doubt- 
less John applied precisely the right epithet, and threat- 
ened precisely the true destiny, to these future 
murderers of the Messiah he came to announce."*^ 

And he said unto them, " O generation of vipers, 
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? 
Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance : 
and think not to say within yourselves, We have 
Abraham to our father : for I say unto you, that God 
is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abra- 
ham. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of 
the trees : therefore every tree which bringeth not 
forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.^' 
Matt, iii, 7-10. As EHjah exposed and denounced 
the apostasy of his times, so this new prophet, regard- 
less of himself, and thoughtful only of his mission, 
unhesitatingly threw the whole force of his eloquence 
and vehement zeal against the ritualism of the tem- 
ple, the legalism of tlie schools, the vanity of heredi- 
tary pride, and the authority of tradition. " He w^as 
a sort of personified revolt against the law, written 
and oral. The image and authority of Moses do not 

* Comment on Luke iii, T. 



Phaiiisi::es and Sadducees. 205 

seem to exist for liim ; but the prophets, with their 
scorn of lega] pride and privilege, ceremonial purity 
and observances, with their faith in the reality of right- 
eousness and retribution, are so real to him that he 
appears the very incarnation of their spirit, the em- 
bodied voice of their God. Hence his message is 
moral, not political. His relation to the Roman can- 
not be directly determined ; his relation to the Jew 
is apparent enough. He does not think that Judaism 
is the religion of Jahveh, or that Israel needs only 
freedom to be perfect. He can hardly be named a 
patriotic Jew ; that is, if patriotism be fidelity to what 
his countrymen passionately revere. To him their 
national idea is abhorrent, and the attempts at reali- 
zation but prove its evil. He thinks that people and 
rulers are alike guilty, that their supreme need is 
repentance, and the regeneration repentance alone can 
bring." "^ 

The Pharisees and Sadducees could not maintain 
their ground against the Baptist's searching glance 
and fiery words. They were no match for this hon- 
est champion of the truth and the nation's real inter- 
ests. He plainly told them that he held his authority 
from a greater ruler than they represented. They 
were not accustomed to such a spirit as now con- 
fronted them. They were wont to receive great 
deference from the populace, but they soon saw that 
John neither feared nor respected them. He offered 

* Fairbairn, Studies in Life of Christ p. 71. 



206 John the Baptist. 

them not one word of flattery, but he briefly and 
anthoritatively told them that unless they repented 
of their iniquities, just like the common sinners whom 
they affected to despise, and brought forth the fruits 
of a genuine reformation, they would surely meet 
the wrath of the God of Israel, whom they had in- 
sulted and misrepresented. 

Seeing that they came to scoff and criticise rather 
than to repent and confess, he speedily waxed fierce 
in his denunciations. He likened them to a brood 
of vipers, since the serpent had always been the em- 
blem of a wicked race. He instinctively distrusted 
their sincerity, and sarcastically inquired who had 
warned thein to flee from the wratli to come ; as 
much as to say, ^' It must be by a special miracle if 
such hardened sinners as you are have been directed 
here by any but unworthy motives and unhallowed 
influences." With the inspiration of a true prophet 
he even divined their inmost thoughts of pride and 
self-righteousness, and, rising at once above the nar- 
row prejudices of his race, he cried out, ''You lead 
the people astray when you teach them that Israel 
alone can find favor with God ; that the coming king- 
dom of heaven is to be strictly Jewish, by hereditary 
right, and all other nations are to be excluded there- 
from. Begin not to say within yourselves, we have 
Abraham to our father : for I say unto you that 
God is able of these very stones of the desert, ly- 
ing in countless numbers around, to raise up true 



Pharisees and Sadducees. 207 

children to Abraham, and will exclude you, his 
pretended children, from the kingdom unless you 
repent ! " 

They cowered before him. They had thought he 
would be like a reed shaken wdth the wind, in their 
haughty presence ; but they found him as firm and 
unyielding as the mountain oak. From others they 
had received fulsome flattery ; from this man they 
received only scorn. He wore no soft clothing, and 
he had for them no soft words. He was a stranger 
to kings' palaces, and he despised the insincerity of 
courtiers. 

But, notwithstanding all John's faithfulness to 
them, the Pharisees and Sadducees missed their op- 
portunity at last. Their arrogant self-righteousness 
ruined them and the nation they ruled. All but a 
few of them, comparatively, rejected the counsel of 
God toward themselves, not having been baptized by 
John."^ These were the very men to whom Jesus 
afterward said, when they sent a deputation to him 
from Jerusalem, " Why do ye also transgress the com- 
mandment of God by your tradition ? . . . Ye hypo- 
crites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This 
people draweth nigh unto me w^ith their mouth, and 
honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far 
from me. But in vain they do worship me, teach- 
ing for doctrines the commandments of men. . . . O 
ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but 

* Luke vii, 30 : Dr. Davidson's Tischendorf s Yersion. 
13 



208 John the Baptist. 

ean ye not discern the signs of the times?" Matt. 
XV, 3, 7-9; xvi, 3. 

At various other times the vigorous eloquence of 
Jesus, when combating the hypocrisy of these rulers 
among the Jews, made a deep impression npon the 
people, and fully justified John's estimate of their 
insincerity and the perniciousness of their influence ; 
as, for example, when he npbraided them in these 
severe words : '' Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites ! who have taken the key of knowledge 
and use it only to shut up the kingdom of heaven 
against men! Ye neither go in yourselves, neither 
suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto 
you, for you are as graves which appear not, and over 
which men walk unawares ! Ye fools and blind, who 
pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have 
omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, 
mercy, and faith ; these ought ye to have done, and 
not to leave the other undone. BHnd guides, wdio 
strain your wine for a gnat and swallow a camel, woe 
unto you ! Ye make clean the outside of the cup 
and the platter, but within they are full of extortion 
and excess. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which 
is within ; then mayest thou look to the cleanliness 
of that which is withont. Woe unto you, scribes and 
hypocrites! for ye are like nnto whited sepulchers, 
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are with- 
in full of dead men's bones, and of all nncleanness. 
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto 



Pharisees and Sadducees. 209 

men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and gar- 
nish the sepulchers of tlie righteous, and say. If we 
had been in the days of our fathers, we would not 
have been partakers with them in the blood of the 
prophets. Wherefore, ye be witnesses unto your- 
selves, that ye are the children of them that killed 
the prophets. Fill ye up then the measures of your 
fathers. Therefore also said the Wisdom of God, 
' I will send unto you prophets, and wise men, and 
scribes ; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, 
and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, 
and persecute them from city to city : that upon you 
may come all the righteous blood shed upon the 
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the 
blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew 
between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto 
you. It shall be required of this generation.' " ^ 

From Matt, iii, 7 ; John v, 35, and a few other 
brief references by the evangelists, we conclude that 
while doubtless a majority of the Pharisees and Sad- 
ducees, intent only upon selfish and party aims, were 
offended, not to say enraged, by John's plain words 
and lack of sympathy with their pretensions, and 
therefore regarded his ministry with suspicion and 
hated him with a bitter hatred, still a few earnest, 

* Matt, xxiii, 13, 23-36; Luke xi, 44, as quoted, with foot-notes, 
by Reuan: Life of Jesus, pp. 297-299. 



210 John the Baptist. 

upright, and devout men among them were deeply 
impressed by his preaching, accepted him as a prophet 
of God, opened their hearts to his message of truth, 
and submitted to his baptism. John's harsh words 
were, therefore, only for the haughty and arrogant, 
who claimed a share in the coming Messiah's king- 
dom as their hereditary right, without either repent- 
ance or forgiveness. To all true penitents and sin- 
cere inquirers this son of thunder was transformed 
into an angel of consolation. He adapted his in- 
structions, with minute care, to their special condition, 
and became their sympathetic, loving guide to peace 
and purity. 



A Model Preacher. 211 



CHAPTER XV. 

A MODEL PREACHER. 

John's preaching was an authoritative proclama- 
tion, rather than a sustained argument or a specimen 
of fine rhetoric, albeit it was not lacking in either 
logic or literary skill. His mind and heart were so 
full of his great tlieme that there was room for noth- 
ing else. He had a certain definite object in view, 
and he took the shortest route to gain it. In this he 
showed himself the true orator. Like Demosthenes, 
by rousing his hearers to action he gave the fullest 
proof of his power. He was great in that he thor- 
oughly understood himself, his hearers, and the occa- 
sion. He did not attempt too much. Pie knew very 
well that the spiritual regeneration of men was be- 
yond his power, and he confined himself to the puri- 
fication of the morals of the people, as preparatory 
to the more radical and greater work which w^as to 
be the glory of the coming kingdom. However great 
the temptation, he made no attempt to usurp the 
place of the true Deliverer, to gather about him an 
organized band of followers, to use his eloquence for 
pushing his personal plans or promoting his personal 
aggrandizement. He was content to have his work 
but a small part of a great whole. He was not am- 



212 John the Baptist. 

bitious to outrun God's plans or to interfere with 
God's order. He had been summoned from the 
wilderness by the Holy Spirit simply as a herald. He 
knew his place, and had the good sense to keep it. 
Hence he was great in his place and for his times. 
The Holy Spirit, who had called him not to found a 
kingdom but to proclaim it, never departed from him, 
and gave him not only eloquence to persuade and in- 
spire men, but wisdom and strength to clearly see 
and faithfully pursue this line of duty. 

His preaching had the merit of adaptation. He 
spoke to men of his own times ; men with whose 
moral condition he was perfectly familiar, and of 
whose every-day life, methods of thought, prejudices, 
hopes, desires, and aims he was not ignorant. He 
approached them in no roundabout way, with no dis- 
play of profound learning, with no use of the arti- 
iicial rules of oratory, with no attempt to dazzle by 
his brilliancy or perplex by his subtilty. He dis- 
carded entirely the traditional methods of the scholars 
as unfitted for his purpose, and struck directly at the 
evil he was assailing; or in the fewest, plainest 
words imparted the instruction, or brought to bear 
the persuasion he believed his hearers needed. To 
each of the many classes flocking to hear him his 
preaching was intensely practical. He called things 
by their right names. Isaiah seems to have been 
his favorite writer, and from that prophet he 
borrowed such illustrations as the viper brood, God's 



A Model Pkeacher. 213 

vineyard, God's trees and the felling that which was 
barren, the consuming fire, the threshing-floor and 
the winnowing shovel, and the giving bread and 
clothing to the poor. Isa. lix, 5 ; v, 7 ; vi, 13 ; x, 15 ; 
xviii, 5; xl, 21 ; i, 31; ix, 18; x, 17, etc. With 
such plain words and familiar figures he made his 
way sti-aight to men's hearts in the most searching, 
fearless, downright manner. So, of course, he was 
popular in the sense that, however men might be dis- 
pleased with his utterances, they could not stay away 
from his ministry. The object for which he preached 
was, first of all, an immediate and local one. lie saw 
the necessities of the times, and aimed to meet them 
as quickly and as effectually as possible. The enemy 
of the coming Christ and the coming kingdom was 
intrenched in the Hebrew life and character, and, 
like a skillful general, John concentrated all his 
forces and moved at once upon the foe in the very 
citadel of his power. 

John was thoroughly in earnest. His speech was 
sharp, sometimes abrupt; but he meant every word 
he said. Men understood him. There was no mis- 
taking his meaning. Many of them did not like 
him. His contempt for their pet notions, and his 
fierce denunciations of their pet sins, made them so 
angry that they would have killed him had they 
dared ; but he w^as genuine, he was real, and they 
were compelled to respect him and his message. 
His very life attested his earnestness. His utter in- 



214 John the Baptist. 

difference to earthly comforts, his honielessness, his 
singleness of thought, purpose, and work, all proved 
him to be supremely in earnest. Religion in Jeru- 
salem had long been a thing of forms, and its very 
spirit had centered in externals. Thoughtful men 
felt that it was all a sham, although they lacked the 
courage to say so. But here was a man so real and 
true, who felt that religion is such an everlasting 
reality, that he dared tell his countrymen they 
were false, and w^ere sliding into the abyss of spiritual 
as well as national ruin. Here was a man who had 
discarded forms, but who yet could feel the splendors 
of God shining into his soul. He therefore possessed 
one of the most important elements of success in 
preaching. A man may be impetuous, full of imper- 
fections, sometimes hasty, and always stern, even at 
times inconsistent. John was; but if men see that 
there is no duplicity about him, that he is as real as 
he is human, he will have a compelling charm for 
them which gives him great advantage in tlie presen- 
tation of truth otherwise unacceptable, or in arousing 
men from indifference to action. Tlie men whom 
a preacher seeks to reach and influence are usually 
keen-sighted. They readily detect a fraud. They 
can pardon almost any thing rather than a lack of 
sincerity. John came ruthlessly demolishing all 
idols, making enemies of the haughty and influential, 
and turning the religious world upside down gener- 
ally. His countrymen sought him in tlie wilderness 



A Model Preacher. 215 

first out of curiosity.. No doubt many of them had 
already condemned the fanatic in their hearts. But 
as they listened he overpowered their captiousness, 
their hatred, their prejudices, their superstitions, and 
led them captive at his will. The secret of it all lay 
largely in the fact that he was real and he was in 
earnest. 

John was bold and independent ; not with the 
effrontery of egotism and personal vanity, not as one 
who is puffed up with the pride of lineage or learn- 
ing, but as one who is commissioned to utter an all- 
important truth, and, at every hazard, to do an all- 
important work. Some have ascribed his boldness 
to a certain fierceness of temper which characterized 
the tribe of Levi, or to a military element said to 
have belonged to the Jewish priesthood ; but, every 
thing considered, I think the more reasonable expla- 
nation is found in the fact that through his long 
period of preparation he had gained the habit of 
looking at things as they are, and especially of prop- 
erly estimating moral evil. He had no patience with 
the nice distinctions which the man of the world and 
he who bids for popular favor were wont to make 
between various forms of sin. He had lived so long 
in close spiritual communion with God that he saw 
in sin only that which was evil and morally degrad- 
ing, and therefore inexcusable. The time was short, 
the case was urgent ; the kingdom of heaven was at 
hand ; he wrs commissioned and equipped by the 



216 John the Baptist. 

Almiglity, and to his own Master he must stand or 
fall ; therefore, so far as his dealings with men were 
concerned, he ought to have been independent in 
thou2:ht and bold in action. John did not hasten to 
abandon his work w^hen Jesus appeared upon the 
scene, as though his own responsibility had ceased ; 
but he was firmly faithful to the end, until his pro- 
phetic utterance, "He must increase, but I must de- 
crease," had received its literal fulfillment, and he 
himself had fallen a victim to the cruel hate of the 
ruler whose sin he had so fearlessly exposed. Men 
are so intrenched in their sinfulness or their indiflfer- 
ence that no revolution has ever been accomplished 
without independence and boldness. Every great 
religious leader, especially, has been noted for these 
qualities. Compromises with wrong have never been 
popular with the men who have saved the world. 
All great things have been achieved for humanity in 
the name of absolute principles wliicli admit of no 
contradiction and demand of their exponents that 
they either conquer or die. 

John was a very fire-brand among the people. He 
belonged to no party ; he asked for no human back- 
ing; he had unbounded faith in the truth he was 
commissioned to utter, and in its divine power to win 
its way and accomplish its purpose. In all this he 
was a model preacher. Human nature is ever the 
same. The same work of preparing the way of the 
Lord and making his paths straight is still to be car- 



A Model Pkeacher. 217 

ried on, and there are no better methods than those 
the Baptist used so effectively. Men must still be 
made to know and feel their sinfulness. Repentance 
is still the only road to salvation. Christ cometh 
quickly after the preacher to every awakened and 
seeking soul. 

With all his aggressiveness and force of character 
John was a man of marked humility. He ever held 
himself as second and subordinate to the coming of 
Christ. The kingdom which he declared to be at 
hand implied a king. The people whom he declared 
to be in bondage needed a deliverer. That king and 
deliverer was the divine and mighty One, for whom 
John was humbly but resolutely preparing the way. 

At the moment of his greatest popularity and 
power he made haste to declare, '' After me cometh 
one mightier than I ; " and in all his preaching he 
loved to contrast his own insignificance with the coming 
King's greatness. He said that he was not worthy 
to bear the King's sandals, or to loose his shoe-latchet. 
He was only tlie humble friend of the Bridegroom ; 
the Bridegroom was yet to come. He simply bap- 
tized with water unto repentance, as a preparation for 
a work to be wrought ; the King would " baptize with 
the Holy Ghost and with fire," and thus effect a rad- 
ical change in men. Taking Mai. iv, 1, for the 
text of one of his most impressive sermons, he de- 
clared that the coming King was to exercise the di- 
vine office and power of judge over men : to know 



218 John the Baptist. 

their hearts, and, like a man upon the threshing-floor 
with a winnowing-fan in his hand, to separate the 
good from the bad, gathering the wheat into his gar- 
ner, but burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. 
" Every prophet of tlie Old Testament going before 
the face of Jehovah was a type of John the Baptist, 
who was to announce the advent of the God-man ; 
and John, again, was the type of every apostle, 
preacher, or missionary who causes ' the voice of one 
crying ' to be heard before the King himself can ap- 
pear. This voice began to sound when Isaiah first 
perceived and interpreted it ; it was heard with un- 
usual power through John's instrumentality ; it will 
not be silent till the last trumpet shall be heard." ^ 

Thus, from first to last a true preacher of the Gos- 
pel, he humbled himself and exalted Christ. He 
may never have comprehended fully the Christ. Like 
many another Jew of his day, he may have had deep 
moral feeling and but little spirituality. His strong, 
but national, and therefore narrow and selfish, moral 
sense may have made him an uncompromising ex- 
pounder of the law while he was comparatively igno- 
rant of the foundation principle of the new kingdom, 
which is love — love for the. Gentile as well as the 
Jew. His fierce spirit might have led him to doubt 
the wisdom of Christ's first sermon at Nazareth : 
" He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to 
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of 

* J. J. Van Gostprzee, 



A Model Pkeaciier. 219 

sight to tlie blind, to set at liberty them that are 
bruised." Luke iv, 18. Nevertheless, he was just the 
man for his place. He was sent to arouse and alarm 
men, to move them to action, to prepare the way of 
the Lord ; and he did his work well. 

It is unwise to say that the effect of his preaching 
was transient : that when the people escaped from the 
magnetism of his presence they forgot the truth he 
had spoken, and shook off the convictions of con- 
science ; that the Pharisees, when they found they 
could not use him or corrupt him, denied point-blank 
the authority of his mission. John's preaching sifted 
his hearers, and while there was much chaff there 
was also much wheat. All whom he had really 
quickened were not satisfied until they found the 
Christ; and there were some choice souls among 
them. We need no better proof of the abiding 
power and spirit of John's preaching than we find 
in Peter and John, Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael, 
whose desires he had aroused, and who hopefully 
waited near him for the appearing of the Messiah. 
They were no ordinary men. They were great men, 
fitted and waiting for their time and place. They 
became the pillars of the new Church, the glory of 
which has now filled all the earth. 



220 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 

The kingdom of heaven was no new idea to the 
Jews of John's day ; neither was his enthusiastic 
declaration that this kingdom was at hand any par- 
ticular surprise to them. They looked back with a 
justifiable pride to the time when Jehovah was re- 
garded as the King of Israel ; the time when this 
title was so exclusively appropriated to him that no 
human being was either appointed or desired to rule 
over the people. And even when Saul was anointed 
king, and when afterward a royal dynasty was 
founded by David, the sovereignty of God was still 
the foundation principle of the nation and its polit- 
ical institutions ; and loyalty to his government was 
the one condition upon which the happiness and pros- 
perity of both king and people depended. In John's 
day the theocracy, with the glory it insured to the 
nation, was sorrowfully regarded by all true Jews as 
a thing of the past. They were under the iron rule 
of a hated foreign power. Greek and Roman influ- 
ences and principles permeated the entire life of the 
people. Even the sect of the Pharisees, which had 
been formed for the express purpose of stimulating 



The Kingdom of Heaven. 221 

and preserving tlie Jewish spirit and feeling, and was 
the bitter foe of foreign thought or customs, seemed 
powerless to arrest the process of national disintegra- 
tion which was slowly but surely going on. Still, the 
more learned and devout Jews believed, from their 
computation of the prophetic periods, that the Mes- 
siah was soon to come and restore all things. This 
belief they had declared to the people, and their pe- 
culiar political circumstances, and a general state of 
fermentation in the public mind, had somehow awak- 
ened a prevailing expectation that when the Messiali 
came it would be as a revolutionary leader, to over- 
throw their oppressors and re-establish the nation 
upon its original basis. 

There had been numerous attempts to hasten that 
day of the Lord. In John's infancy, Judas the son 
of Saripheeus and Mattathias had sought to bring in 
the reign of the Messiah by an extensive political 
rising which was characterized by that fanatical zeal 
and courage peculiar to the Hebrews, and was only 
crushed out by fierce fighting and much bloodshed. 
In his boyhood, Jndas the Galilean had led another 
extensive popular uprising for the same end, but the 
result was as before, and the whole land was once 
more covered with mourning. Notwithstanding these 
failures, the idea of a successful religious war with 
Rome was a favorite one with most Jews. Their 
faith and courage were equal to the attempt at any 
moment. They only lacked a suitable leader, and 



222 John the Baptist. 

when one with sufficient ambition, skill, and daring 
should appear he would be sure of an immediate and 
extensive following. Even among the Samaritans 
there was a settled belief that the kingdom of God 
was near at hand, and that it would be of a political 
and military character. The ancient legend that 
Jeremiah had hidden the tabernacle, and the ark, and 
the sacred vessels, and the altar of incense in a hollow 
cave, and that they would be discovered by Messiah 
when he came, and would be the sacred tokens that 
the divine authority was re-established in Israel, was 
now revived, and the whole land was in a feverish 
state of excited expectation. So when John pro- 
claimed, " The kingdom of heaven is at hand," the 
people thought they understood his meaning. He 
meant that the theocracy was now to be restored, 
that a new era was about to commence. The Messiah 
was to be the founder and monarch of the new king- 
dom, which should far surpass the glory of any that 
had gone before. It was a holy kingdom and a 
Hebrew kingdom. It would take the place of the 
Roman Empire in its universal dominion. All na- 
tions would submit to its authority, and it would 
last forever. Dr. H, E. Reynolds says of this pe- 
riod : 

^'Long brooding on the deep spiritual hints con- 
tained in their own Scriptures had enlarged the 
horizon of many thoughtful Jews, and made them 
anticipate, in the coming kingdom of God, a judg- 



The Kingdom of Heaven. 223 

nient not onl}^ on their enemies, but on themselves. 
They had a dim liope that Messiah would come as 
a Son of man in the clouds of heaven, and would oc- 
cupy the border-land between the two worlds; that 
the veil was on the point of being lifted by the King 
in his beauty, and that the great and notable day of 
the Lord was about to dawn in terror on all who do 
wickedly ; that events of transcendent interest and 
of consummate personal as w^ell as national moment 
were about to transpire. There is no perspective 
in pro|)hetic picture. The entire future, including 
events more or less distant, appears equally near, nor 
are events seen along the same line and in the 
same plane of vision chronologically distributed. 
The atmosphere of earth does not penetrate this re- 
gion, and there are no units of measurement by 
which we may gauge its distances. Hence the 
coming of ' the kingdom ' involved the restoration 
of the kingdom to Israel (Acts i, 6), the restitution 
of the fallen tabernacle (Acts xv, 15, 16), the suffer- 
ings of Messiah (Matt, xvi, 21), and the glory that 
should follow. 

'^ Messiah would come, they knew^ not ' whence.' 
He would, according to tlieir notions of ruling, reign 
from Jerusalem over a subject world. There would 
be the predicted and coming wrath. There would 
be the judgment of the living and the dead. Cos- 
mical changes, political revolutions, the re-appearance 

of departed saints, would accompany the entrance 
14 



224 John the Baptist. 

upon liis kingdom of Messiah the Prince. So when 
the last of the prophets cried, ' Tlie kingdom of heaven 
is at hand,' an electric shock thrilled through the na- 
tion. Now every throb of pain will be soothed, every 
wrong redressed, every fear hushed. The heavens 
will open to receive the faithful, and * the Ancient of 
days' will be seen in his glory. The previous at- 
tempts to realize the ideal kingdom, the earthly types 
of this heavenly glory, had hitherto been imperfect 
and transitory ; often corrupt, repeatedly disorganized 
by treachery, and more than once trampled into dust. 
The prophecy and promise of John must have awak- 
ened a passionate yearning." 

John appeared to his countrymen in no new or 
stranore character. Tliev were familiar with the his- 
tory of the ancient prophetic office, and John ouly 
revived its obsolete functions in the vehemence and 
lidelity with which he delivered his message. But it 
is evident that his conception of the coming king- 
dom was quite different from tlie popular expecta- 
tion. Most of his countymen were looking for and 
talkinor of a purely extei-nal kingdom: he spoke of 
an internal kingdom. Their hopes were in a king- 
dom to come ; he proclaimed a kingdom which had 
already appeared. He bluntly contradicted the Jew- 
ish notion that all who could justly claim Abraham as 
tlieir father would have a birthright citizenship in the 
Messiah's kingdom, while all others would be ex- 
cluded. He more than intimated that all their am- 



The Kingdom of Heaven. 225 

bitious plans touching a temporal and conquering 
kingdom must be set aside ; that the kingdom of 
heaven must be a purely spiritual kingdom, with just 
. enough of the society, or outward organization, to in- 
sure its permanence and its economical propagation. 
The first step toward citizenship therein was his bap- 
tism of repentance, joined with fruits meet for repent- 
ance. Then, in the spirit-baptism to be administered 
by the coming Messiah, he sets forth the moral new 
birth by which they were to become naturalized in 
the new kingdom. Repentance, which included a 
consciousness of sin and a longing to be free from it, 
was necessary, and the new birth was necessary. 

In saying that God was able of the very stones 
beneath their feet to raise up children unto Abraham, 
John seems to have had a prophetic presentiment 
that, even among the Gentiles, all who sought should 
find the Redeemer, all who asked should receive the 
bread of life, and to all who knocked the kingdom of 
heaven should be opened. In all this John was a 
true forerunner of our Lord ; he was one with Christ 
in spirit and in teaching. The new visible but spir- 
itual kingdom, with Messiah for its visible King, was 
to be inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, and thus 
a new condition was to exist in Israel, a new era 
was to dawn upon the nation, in which for the first 
time the true conception of the theocracy and its 
actual manifestation should precisely harmonize. As 
the sifting process should begin, and continue, many 



226 John the Baptist. 

unworthy Jews were destined to be excluded from 
the kmgdom. This being true, the Messiah was not 
to go fortli with flaming sword and overturn all ene- 
mies, and at once establish his kingdom in full 
splendor by the miraculous power vested in him. 
He was rather to so manifest himself that those 
whose hearts were prepared for his coming would 
know him at once, and from all classes and all na- 
tions and all circumstances be drawn to him, and, 
forsaking all, follow him ; while, on the other 
hand, the mentally and morally blind and perverse, 
the spiritually proud, would not only deny him, but 
oppose him, seeking to destroy both him and his 
kingdom. Thus the inevitable fight between Christ 
and Antichrist must go on. Among the Jews and 
the Gentiles the sifting must be complete until, at 
last, the good, with Messiah at their head, shall come 
forth victorious, the whole earth be conquered by 
the spiritual forces marshaled against all forms of 
corruption, and the universal government be a uni- 
versal theocracy. Says Dr. Reynolds: "Jesus ad- 
mitted that ' the kingdom of God had come nigh ' 
unto the Jewish people when he, the Lord and head 
of it, began before their eyes ' to destroy the works 
of the devil.' Luke xi, 20 ; 1 John iii, 8. But he 
showed them that though the kingdom was real 
and resistless it must be within them, and would 
not come with observation. Luke xvii, 20. Al- 
though it was being then set up in their hearts, 



The Kingdom of Heaven. 227 

altlioiigh for the first time in liuraaii history it em- 
bodied itself in the perfect life of the God-man, yet 
since it was a leaven hidden for awhile in the meal, 
a seed covered by the soil and sometimes choked by 
thorns or trampled on by the feet of strangers, it 
would be long before a triumphant proof of its pres- 
ence could be given. Therefore the subjects of this 
kingdom were continually to pray, ' Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.' 
Matt, vi, 10." 

John was a propliet; he therefore interpreted the 
kingdom of heaven in the prophetic sense as ''the 
realized reign of the righteous God." In expressing 
tliis great idea Christ made use of two formulas — 
" The kingdom of heaven," and ''' The kingdom of 
God." Tiiere is here a slight difference of meaning. 
" The kingdom of heaven " indicated the nature and 
character of the new kingdom, whereby it is radically 
different from and antagonistic to the kingdoms of 
the world, that are established by intrigue and force 
and maintained by armies. '' The kingdom of God " 
indicates the origin and purpose of the new kingdom, 
whereby it is set over against and is an everlasting 
foe to the kingdom of Satan, or of evil. Man was 
still the child of God, but through sin he had be- 
come estranged from the Father. But the kingdom 
of God, the kingdom of goodness, had for its 
avowed end the overthrow of sin and the restora- 
tion of man to obedience, and such an harmonious 



228 John the Baptist. 

intercourse with God that eartli should be hke 
heaven. 

If we are to be guided bj the classic use of the 
original word here translated ''kingdom" we may 
wdth equal authority render it " dominion " or 
^' reign." Both words convey the general idea of 
authority, but '^ kingdom " relates particularly to the 
reign or territory over which the authority of a king 
or ruler extends, while '' reign " relates particularly 
to the influence which goes out from his person to 
control the characters and actions of his subjects. 
While the will of God is supreme with his subjects, 
and in the highest spiritual sense he reigns over 
them, there is still a place, a territory with its inhabi- 
tants, over which that reign extends, and which is 
definitely called his "kingdom." A part of that 
territory is here, while a part is beyond the limits of 
this world and this life ; but in the entire kingdom 
God rules, and we are in perfect harmony with this 
fact when we pray, as our Lord taught us, ''Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is 
in heaven." 

In the New Testament the expression " kingdom 
of heaven" refers usually to the reign of God on 
earth. The thoughts of John and Christ and the 
apostles were not centered upon some heavenly state 
beyond the grave. They spoke of and labored to 
establish a heavenly state on earth, a present and 
complete rule of God in the heart, by which men 



Thp: Kingdom of IIp:aven. 229 

are here put in harmony with God, and so made ca- 
pable of the highest spiritual development. They 
said but httle of the heaven beyond this earth and 
this life. The heaven which they offered to man was 
a present good, a present state of purity and peace. 
They were not to wait in toil and strife, and disap- 
pointment and sorrow, to be rewarded for their 
faithfulness by some blissful state into which death 
should introduce them. They were to expect the 
kingdom of heaven, with all its blessedness, to come 
to them in this life. John said, ''The kingdom of 
heaven is at hand.'' Christ said, '' The kingdom of 
heaven is within you." Paul said, " The kingdom 
cf heaven is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
Holy Ghost." When Christ ascended he left, as a 
precious legacy to his disciples, the promise of the 
Holy Spirit, to be in them a sanctifying, impelling, 
effective force for the extension of the kingdom of 
heaven among men. In further explanation of the 
spiritual life and power with which all true subjects 
of this kingdom were to be endowed, Jesus declared, 
" If a man love me he will keep my words : and my 
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, 
and make our abode with him." 

Whatever may be said or implied in the New 
Testament in regard to the future world, either in 
the use of the phrase we are now considering, or by 
expressions less general in their application, John 
and Christ seemed to consider that the present reign 



230 John the Baptist. 

of God on the earth ought to be the chief reason 
why men should repent of sin and turn unto holiness. 
They did not ujuch urge either future happiness or 
misery as an incentive to a godly life here. They 
did not say, " Repent, for you must die and be 
judged ; repent, or you shall be condemned to 
eternal separation from God and all goodness ; " but 
they did say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand, and in it you shall find the present blessed 
results and rewards of true penitence." 

The nature of this kingdom may be briefly set forth 
in the statement that, since God is its King, his will is 
the controlling power therein. The soul from w^hich 
self-will is removed, in which all passions are subdued, 
conscience is quickened, the will of God is spiritually 
discerned, and the purified affections all prompt to a 
cheerful doing of that will, that soul is in the king- 
dom and under the reio-n of God. Like his Master 
he can say, '' My meat is to do the will of him that 
sent me." In such a soul is the prophetic promise 
fulfilled, " I will put my law in their inward parts, 
and write it on their hearts." 

We shall, however, get a more explicit definition 
of the nature of this kingdom in Paul's statement 
that " The kingdom of heaven is rightousness, and 
joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost." Man is not, 
naturally, either righteous, joyful, or peaceful. But 
through the spiritual new birth, the necessity of 
which Christ so earnestly urged upon Nicodemus, 



The Kingdom of Heaven. 231 

man looses his sinfulness and selfishness, and not only 
in his obedience to the will of God, but in his own 
character, he becomes righteous. He is no longer in 
a state of disappointment and dissatisfaction, with a 
bitter sense of being baffled in his pursuit of all he 
deemed desirable ; but instead he has entered into 
an experience of trust in God, which brings to him 
contentment and even joy in God's providences. He 
no longer fears God, or the present or the future — 
no, not even the judgment day — for he has found 
perfect peace in the Father's approval and smile. 

In this experience lies the true scriptural test of 
conversion. "When a man asks, " Am I a child of 
God, a naturalized citizen in the kingdom of heaven ? " 
he has only to turn the light of the holy Scriptures 
full upon his daily inner soul-life and the vital 
question is answered. If he has righteousness, and 
joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost, then the kingdom 
of heaven is not merely at hand, not something that 
may soon be expected, but it has actually come, with 
all its glory and power, to his soul. 



232 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTER XYIL 

THE BAPTIZER. 

Riding east, from tlie site of the Jericho of 
John's day, along the dry and uncultivated plain, in 
about two hours you descend a somewhat abrupt, 
clayey embankment to a flat, or terrace, which is 
sparsely covered with stunted trees and low shrubs. 
In a short time you are brouglit,by a second descent, 
to another terrace, where the willows and tamarisks 
and balsams grow so profusely that they form a thick, 
tangled jungle through wliich your horse can only 
pass by following one of the many paths cut here 
and there in every direction. Keeping directly east, 
in a few moments you j)ass down a third embank- 
ment, not quite so deep as the preceding, and find 
yourself in the bed of the river Jordan. You can 
easily ford the stream, unless you have arrived at 
the time of the spring or autumn floods, when the 
water has risen to cover the second, or perhaps the 
first, terrace of which we have spoken, and has be- 
come a raging torrent which you cannot safely at- 
tempt to cross. Josephiis says that it was at this 
part of the Jordan that Yespasian's soldiers drove 
such multitudes of the Jews, in his day, into the 



The Baptizer. 233 

stream, when swollen by spring floods, that the river 
could not be passed over on account of the dead 
bodies that were in it (which might defile one), and 
the lake Asphaltitis was also full of corpses, car- 
ried down into it by the raging river.*^ From this 
point it is but a few miles to w^here the Jordan 
mingles its waters with the bituminous waves of the 
Dead Sea. 

Immediately on the eastern side of the river is a 
wilderness plain running some miles, and slightly 
rising, to the very foot of the Perea range of the 
mountains of Moab. In John's time, as now, there 
were no villages here, and men were obliged to en- 
camp if they remained there at all. From this part 
of "the wilderness" Elijah went up to glory in a 
chariot of fire, hundreds of years before ; and now, 
as the multitude flocked across the river and thronged 
the waste places to listen to John's fiery eloquence, 
to gaze upon his wild but commanding form, and to 
submit to his baptism, no wonder they thought the 
great Tishbite had " come again " with Jehovah's 
message to Israel. So far as surroundings were con- 
cerned, this wild spot furnished a most appropriate 
background for the strange scene in which John was 
the central figure. Beside the flowing stream fringed 
with waving cane-beds this last of the prophets lifted 
his voice. He was no " reed shaken by the wind ; " 
he was in very truth, through the functions of his 

*BelL Jud., iv, 7, 6. 



234 John the Baptist. 

divine office, Elijah come again. But he was "more 
than a prophet ; " he was the very forerunner, the 
herald who proclaimed the immediate advent of the 
mighty King, so long promised, who was to be " the 
hope of Israel." 

Although John claimed divine authority for his 
proclamation, he did not (as we have already seen) 
present to the people the credentials of a single mir- 
acle ; nor did his disciples, deeply as he impressed 
them and firmly as they believed on him, ever at- 
tribute miraculous powers to him. He sought no 
such gifts, and was content to await the complete 
indorsement which he finally received in the fulfill- 
ment of his amazing prediction. 

And yet it seemed necessary that some test should 
be applied to his followers to prove the sincerity of 
their professions. He did not desire to attach them 
to his person, or to control them by his commands. 
They were to return each man to his place and em- 
ployment in society, there to work out the problem 
of a true repentance, and to hold himself in readiness 
for the coming of the Lord. But before they de- 
parted some mark must be devised by which they 
could be distinguished from others, and by consenting 
to bear which they might prove the sincerity of their 
change and their loyalty to the principles they had 
embraced. Some initiatory rite was necessary, in 
whicli tliey might publicly declare their allegiance to 
the new king and kingdom, renew, as it were, the cov- 



The Baptizer. 235 

enant made between their forefathers and Jehovali, 
and formally enter not only upon a new service, but 
a new and purer life. 

It is well known that many learned men have main- 
tained that the baptism of proselytes existed among 
the Jews before the coming of John. Professor Stu- 
art, representing a large class of profound scholars 
who hold to the opposite opinion, after a critical re- 
view of the question, decides that " the probability, on 
the ground of evidence, is strong against it.'' * Re- 
ferring to this fact, Dr. D. D. Whedon says : " John, 
then, was probably called the baptist as being the Jirst 
baptizer. Passages like John i, 25, and Matt, xxi, 
24-27, are most naturally explained under the view 
that John originated baptism proper by divine ap- 
pointment, but in accordance with a Jewish expecta- 
tion that something of the sort would be established." f 
Passages in the Old Testament like the following 
clearly indicate the ground of the expectation above 
referred to : " With joy shall ye draw water out of 
the wells of salvation." Isa. xii, 3. " Then will I 
sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean." 
Ezek. xxxvi, 25. " In that day there shall be a fount- 
ain opened to the hoiise of David, and to the inhabit- 
ants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." Zech. 
xiii, 1. 

If, however, John was already familiar with the 
rite of baptism, as administered to such Gentiles as 

* Bib. Rep., April, 1853. f On Matt iii, 1. 



236 John the Baptist. 

embraced Judaism, in public token of the fact that 
they had abandoned the moral defilement of their 
heathenism and now rejoiced in the purity of Hebrew 
citizenship, then it was naturally suggested to his 
mind, and, as the fitting sign and seal of which he 
was in search, readily lent itself to his purpose. In 
this case it already had a meaning which was univer- 
sally understood ; and by adopting it as the public 
token of a full acceptance of his teachings he lifted 
it above the low level of mere ceremonialism, and 
made it the symbol of spiritual realities. It now 
meant sin confessed and repented of; it betokened 
evil known, acknowledged, and put away, as well as 
good perceived and chosen. 

John's baptism was a " baptism unto repentance," 
but it was also a baptism unto hope. No sooner had 
his followers renounced sin than they were filled 
with a great expectation. They stood as men wliose 
loins were girded about, whose lights were burning, 
and who waited for the coming of their Lord ; even 
the Divine One who was to impart a still higher sig- 
nificance to this familiar rite by baptizing with the 
Holy Ghost and with fire. 

Dean Stanley says of the Baptist : " The grandeur 
of his mission lay in the keen discernment with which 
he seized hold of the one ordinance which had, as it 
were, been engendered by the full, flowing stream of 
the 'descending river,' to bring before his country- 
men the truth, ever old yet ever new, that the clean- 



The Baptizer, 237 

ness, the whiteness of the human heart is llie only fit- 
ting preparation for the divine presence. He took 
advantage of that leap into the river, or the reservoir, 
to call upon one and all to spring into a new life, to 
wash off the stain upon their honor and tlieir con- 
sciences, which choked up the pores of their moral 
texture, and impeded the influx of the new truths 
with which the air around them was sliortly to be im- 
pregnated. Matt, iii, 1, 4, 11, 12 ; Luke v, 33. He 
proclaimed the one indispensable condition of all spir- 
itual religion, that the regeneration of the human 
spirit (Matt, iii, 11; Luke iii, 3) was to be accom- 
plished, not by cei'femonies or opinions, not by succes- 
sion or descent, but by moral uprightness. The sub- 
stitution of the wholesome, invigorating, simple 
process of the bath, in which the head and body and 
limbs should be submerged in the rushing river, for 
the sanguinary, costly gifts of the sacrificial slaughter- 
house was a living representation in a single act of 
the whole prophetic teaching of the supremacy of 
duty. This startling note of the universal need for 
the creation of a new morality, for a transformation 
of the mind, struck a chord which had not vibrated 
since the days of Malachi. And of this the nearest 
contemporary likeness was in the Essenian maxim, 
' The approach to duty is as a battle-field,' and in the 
three Essenian virtues, ' Love of God, love of good- 
ness, and love of man.'"^ Wherever any souls were 

* Jos&phus, Ant., xviii, 1, 6; Fhilo, Vit, Contemp., 87 7. 



238 John the Baptist. 

penetrated with a sense of this truth, as the para- 
mount definition of their religious calling, there a 
vast stride was made beyond tlie active religions of 
the ancient world, and toward the ideal of all of 
them." ^ 

It is liardly necessary to say that John's baptism 
was not Christian baptism ; it was rather a token of 
preparation for that more significant rite. Whenever 
John's baptism is named in tlie New Testament there 
is always some adjunct Ihniting its import. It is 
called the " baptism of repentance," or " John's bap- 
tism ; " it is never called simply " baptism," by which 
unmodified word the Christian ordinance is designated. 
The Messiah's kingdom was not set up until after 
John's baptism was instituted. John never adminis- 
tered his baptism in the name of Christ ; therefore 
those who received it could not have been baptized 
into his authorit}^, or into his kingdom. John simply 
required of his candidates a faith in the speedy com- 
ing of the Messiah, a faith which may be exercised by 
an unregenerate man ; while Christian baptism dis- 
tinctly requires a trust in Jesus's blood, shed for the 
remission of sins, as a ground of acceptance with God, 
and which can be exercised only by the regenerate. 
Those who w^ere received into the Church by the 
apostles, after the kingdom of Christ was actually set 
up, were baptized in the name of the blessed Trinit^^, 
according to Christ's command, although they had 
* History of Jewish Churchy Part III, pp. 214, 215. 



The Baptizer. 239 

previously received John's baptism ; notably the dis- 
ciples at Ephesus. Acts xix, 1-5. The great multi- 
tudes baptized by John did not thereby become even 
nominal Christians ; there was no ciiange in belief, 
and but little change in conduct. ''His was a bap- 
tism of repentance and confession, ultimately leading 
to remission of sins. It was not a baptism of remis- 
sion. John could not wash away sins. That cleans- 
ing from all unrighteousness for wdiich he yearned 
w^as to be effected by another baptism, administered 
by other hands ; not a baptism with water at all, but 
a baptism with fire and with the Holy Ghost. John 
knew that the call to repentance and to righteousness 
was not the same thing as the power to turn from 
sin ; that the ' generation of vipers ' could not, by any 
baptismal rite, nor by any thing short of divine power, 
become the brood of doves. He might move the pas- 
sions and stir the fears of the multitude, so that, as 
Josephus says, ' they were eagerly ready to take his 
counsel, and accept liis solemn warning.' But John 
was not exalted to give them repentance or remission 
of sins. He could not put them right w^ith God, 
nor cleanse the thoughts of their hearts. He did not 
wdeld the supernatural force. He was not the source 
of a new life in our humanity. Among all the 
prophets none ever saw^ with such intense vividness 
as he the need of the Spirit-baptism. In command- 
ing men to repent he found his impotence, and 
yearned for the great and notable day when the 

15 



240 John the Baptist. 

Spirit should be poured out from on high. His bap- 
tism was a lively picture and emblem of a nobler 
work than his. By urging repentance and right- 
eousness, and teaching men to hope for remission of 
sins, he helped to create the need which none hut 
the Son of God could supply." "^ 

The Jew could make no mistake as to the meaning 
of John's baptism. It simply set him apart as one 
who desired and expected, when the Messiah's hour 
had come, to be introduced into the true kingdom 
of God. It was the baptism of repentance and ref- 
ormation in preparation for an expected remission of 
sins. Christian baptism was the baptism of faith for 
the immediate remission of sins. John's baptism 
was a sign which made a necessary impression upon 
the minds of his followers, and prepared them for the 
great movement so soon to begin, and when its pur- 
pose was accomplished it readily gave way to a bap- 
tism which was higher and better. In submitting to 
John's baptism men confessed to a sense of danger, 
and a fervent desire to " flee from the wrath to 
come." They also confessed themselves sinners, and, 
therefore, deserving the chastisements of a just God. 
To avoid that chastisement John taught tliem — 
and in baptism they formally accepted his teaching 
as their only hope — that a renewal of heart was nec- 
essary, which, if they accepted and followed the ex- 
pected Messiah, would come to them in such trans- 

* Dr. H. R. Reynolds. 






The Baptizer. 241 

forming power that it could be likened to nothing 
so aptly as to a new birth, a passing from darkness 
to light, or a resurrection from the dead. " Christ 
was to baptize with a holy Spirit and with fire. John 
felt his own baptism to have something cold and 
negative about it. It w^as a renouncing of definite 
bad practices. The soldier bound himself to refrain 
from violence, the tax-gatherer from extortion. But 
more than this was wanting. It was necessary that 
an enthusiasm should be kindled. The phrase 'bap- 
tize with fire ' seems at first sight to contain a mixture 
of metaphors. Baptism means cleansing, and fire 
means warmth. How can warmtli cleanse? The 
answer is that moral w^armth does cleanse. No heart 
is pure that is not passionate ; no virtue is safe that 
is not enthusiastic. And such an enthusiastic virtue 
Christ was to introduce." * 

It would be useless to enter here into an elaborate 
discussion as to the mode of John's baptism ; especially 
as there exists, among our best scholars, such a diver- 
sity of opinions upon the subject. The expression '^ in 
the Jordan," so frequently used, may refer to the 
limits of either of its three banks, and, therefore, 
only indicates where the rite was performed ; it in 
no way indicates the mode. The statement that 
Jesus, when he was baptized, carae out of the water 
is no help to us, for the preposition properly signifies 
from. Such writers as Stanley, Geikie, Hanna, and 

* Ecce Horao^ p. 14. 



242 John the Baptist. 

Lange, referring to the numerous ceremonial wash- 
ings of the Jews, and the frequent plunging and bath- 
ing in the Jordan, which had been a sacred symbol at 
least since the days of Naaman, and depending upon 
some very old but not altogether trustworthy Jewish 
authority as to proselytes being submerged in a stream 
after they had been properly instructed in the law, 
and also attracted by the seeming fitness of the sym- 
bol if one of John's converts goes down into the river 
travel worn and soiled with dust, and after disap- 
pearing for a moment emerges pure and fresh, have 
concluded that immersion must have been the mode 
adopted by John. But what they have written upon 
the subject is certainly more an expression of opinion 
than an array of facts and arguments. To my mind 
the evidence, which is extremely limited on either 
side, is, on the whole, against immersion and in favor 
of aspersion or affusion. It is not made to appear 
that John had any precedent, in any of the practices 
of the Jews, for immersion. The multitudes coming 
to his baptism made immersion impossible, either by 
the hands of John or his immediate disciples; it 
could tlierefore have been practical only by each 
candidate submerging himself independently of the 
administrator, which would seem both imperfect and 
undignified, not to say inexpressive. 

Dr. W. H. Withrow says in his valuable work on 
the catacombs of Rome : " The testimony of the cat- 
acombs respecting the mode of baptism, as far as it 



The Baptizer. 243 

extends, is strongly in favor of aspersion or affusion. 
All their pictured representations of the rite indicate 
this mode, for which alone the early fonts seem 
adapted ; nor is there any early art evidence of bap- 
tismal immersion. It seems incredible, if the latter 
were the original and exclusive mode, of apostolic 
and even divine authority, that it should have left 
no trace in the earliest and most unconscious art 
record, and have been supplanted therein by a new, 
unscriptural, and unhistoric method." * In fact, 
early Christian art invariably represents Christian 
baptism, notably the baptism of Christ, as admin- 
istered by aspersion or affusion. It is therefore 
difficult to see just how it can be established that 
there is any warrant, from the practice of John, 
or Christ's disciples, or the early Church, for claiming 
that immersion is the only scriptural mode of bap- 
tism. Even if the Eastern Church, as some contend, 
but without sufficient proof, usually practiced immer- 
sion, it still could not have been regarded as the only 
valid form ; neither could any particular mode have 
been deemed absolutely essential, since the Western 
Church, compelled, if for no other reason, by the re- 
quirements of a colder climate, the inevitable change 
of manners, and the convenience of custom, adopted 
and practiced almost exclusively the mode of sprink- 
ling which has largely prevailed among Christians 

* For a full presentation of this subject see Catacombs of Rome, pp. 
535-541. 



244 John the Baptist. 

down to the present day. Water bajDtism is but tlie 
symbol and picture of a spiritual baptism ; and the 
'' essence of the symbol" has always seemed more im- 
portant, at least to the great majority of Cliristians, 
than the outward form, wdiich has been fixed upon 
for local reasons, and as best adapted to existing 
circumstances. 



The Baptism of Jesus. 



245 



CHAPTEK XYIII. 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 




The authorities 
at Jerusalem were 
S^'^f>X^8 greatly disturbed by 
John's success with 
the people, and un- 
doubtedly began 
plotting for his over- 
throw. Their repre- 
sentatives had failed 
to deceive him by 
their professions, or 
to insnare him with 
their crafty questions. They succeeded, however, in 
arousing his suspicions, and, like Jesus, not wishing 
to needlessly expose himself to danger, especially as 
he knew that his work was not yet done, he deter- 
mined to seek safety by removing beyond the bounds 
of Judea. From the wilderness plain opposite Jericho 
he passed up the Jordan, probably to a small sunken 
plain which borders the stream " just beneath Scyth- 
opolis, where Gideon's Brook of Trembling makes its 
steep way from the eastern end of Esdraelon down 



BAPTISM OF JESUS. 



246 John the Baptist. 

the Wady Jaliid, to the Jordan. He selected a spot 
near this on the eastern side, known in those days as 
Bethabara, where a ford crossed the river and gave 
abundant facilities for baptism." ^ This new field 
rendered the prophet more accessible to the people 
of Galilee, and the excitement begun in Judea now 
continued with unabated intensity in this more north- 
ern province. Every town in the region north of the 
plain of Esdraelon and on the Sea of Galilee was rep- 
resented in the eager throng which responded to the 
great preacher's call. John i, 44 ; xxi, 2. 

When John's ministry had lasted about six months 
and his fame had extended even to the most out-of-the- 
way place in the land, Jesus, w^ho was six months 
younger than John, and about thirty years of age, 
presented himself to the great preacher in Bethabara 
for baptism. lie had heard in Nazareth the particu- 
lars of John's wonderful career, and had accepted the 
news as a sign that the full time for his own public 

* The Holy Land and the Bible, Geikie, vol. ii, p. 257 ; Lieut. Conder 
in Palestine Fund Report, April, 1875; Geikie, vol. i, p. 409; Did. 
of Bible, art. " Bethabara." Tlie most ancient manuscripts and the 
Vulgate read Bethany instead of Bethabara, but no place of that 
name is now known on the Jordan. Bethabara was introduced into 
the text by Origen, and Dean Stanley and others still maintain that 
it is the right reading. But Bethany has been restored to the text 
by Tischendorf and other learned modern editors. The spot men- 
tioned above seems to meet all the requirements of tlie narrative, and 
thus has at least a very strong probability in its favor. No other 
locality on the Jordan will suit the circumstances so well. 



Jillllliifiiiiiiiimimiiiiii'nii 



ill 



ili; 



pi: 







The Baptism of Jesus. 249 

ministry to begin had arrived. Tims far the duties 
of home and the labors of the carpenter's shop had 
absorbed all his attention. Nazareth, with its beauti- 
ful and highly cultivated valley and the magnificent 
views from the neighboring hill-tops, had been his 
world. 

But now the hour had come for him to enter upon 
a broader iSeld of action, to engage in a greater work. 
Jesus the carpenter henceforth was to be Jesus the 
Christ, while the home of his childhood would be to 
him only a pleasant memory. The associations of his 
young manhood must be broken, associations of such 
a tender character that the remembrance of them 
would make him feel all the more keenly the social 
loneliness of his future years. Hereafter an occa- 
sional brief visit was to be the only link connecting 
his busy, anxious, suffering life wnth the precious 
years in which, under the direction of his wise and 
holy mother, he had diligently prepared for his great 
mission. It was a day of sadness for both Mary and 
Jesus, a day in which their hearts were filled with 
painfully tender emotions and their minds weighed 
down with momentous thoughts and anxious question- 
ings. And yet it was a day of holy joy for which 
they had long looked and waited and prayed ; a day 
in which the steadfast faith of more than thirty years 
had come to its fruition. 

Jesus, with many of his fellow-townsmen, joined 
himself to the company or caravan that was moving 



250 John the Baptist. 

toward the region where John was baptizing, and 
when he arrived at Bethabara he quietly and without 
notice took his place in the motley congregation and 
listened to the preaching of his herald. 

Men have often asked the question, " Did the Holy 
Spirit, bringing a full consciousness of his Messiah- 
ship, come on Jesus at his baptism for the first 
time ? " To that question no satisfactory answer will, 
probably, ever be given. Nor do we need an answer. 
There are mysteries about the w^ork of the infinite 
Spirit of God which it were unnecessary for us 
to pierce even had we the power. We know that 
when Jesus went to John his life as our Teacher 
and Saviour began, and that is enough ; that knowl- 
edge ought to satisfy us. By going down to Betha- 
bara Jesus not only showed his approval of John's 
work, he also recorded his highest possible estimate 
of its importance and value. In no sense is he inde- 
pendent of John's work. The Messiah and the 
herald, though trained under the most diverse cir- 
cumstances and influences, were in perfect accord at 
the very beginning of their public life. Each worked 
with all possible diligence and devotion in his allotted 
sphere, and in the exact order of Providence. Not 
once did either of them attempt to subvert or modify 
that order. The moment his work was accomplished 
John w^as content to step quietly aside, though at the 
very height of his popularity. When his hour had 
come, when he could best serve the world as its Sav- 



The Baptism of Jesus. 251 

iour, Jesus promptly presented himself, though lie 
imdoubtedly foresaw the terrible ordeal that was be- 
fore him. 

That was the supreme day in John's ministry when 
the quiet young carpenter from Galilee appeared in 
the congregation. It was the day which vindicated 
before all the world his authority, his claims, and his 
teaching, and forever joined his record ,to that of the 
Divine Man. All others in that listening throng 
were soon forgotten, but this modest, unobtrusive 
youth from Nazareth, a city which the haughty rulers 
and scholars around him despised, will never be for- 
gotten — will never cease to be the most conspicuous 
figure in the history of the human race. 

"When nearly all the assembled people had been 
baptized (Luke iii, 21) Jesus offered himself as one 
of the last to w^hom the solemn rite was to be that day 
administered. Though cousins, John and Jesus had 
probably seldom met since their boyhood. They 
lived at opposite ends of the country, and John's 
many j'ears of seclusion in the wilderness had almost 
entirely separated him from the ordinary associations 
of social life. They may have met a few times at the 
feasts of Jerusalem, which we know Christ attended, 
and which John, a thorough Jew, and rigorously 
trained in the creed and ritual of the old dispensation, 
would not be likely to neglect. Still, it is reasonable 
to suppose that, since his youthful days at least, John 
had looked upon the face of his cousin but few 



252 .John the Baptist. 

times, and at long intervals. He could not, therefore, 
be expected to i*ecognize him now off-liand, especially 
as he presented himself for baptism as merely one of 
the multitude, and with no word of greeting or ex- 
planation. If, however, John did recognize Jesus as 
his consin, he certainly did not at first recognize him 
as the Messiah, for he unequivocally declares, '^ I 
knew him not." John i, 31, 33. 

' (rradually the revelation of Jesus's Messiahship 
was granted to liim, and all previous know^ledge of 
his kinsman was as nothing compared wdth the full 
blaze of heavenly light which flashed upon his soul 
when the final sign and testimony was given that 
this was indeed the Son of God. Says Irving : '' A 
blind man who had received his sight during the 
hours of darkness might imagine, when the morning 
star first glinted through the lattice in the eye of 
dawn, that he knew the glorious meaning of light ; 
but when the sun arose, bringing the day, he might 
with justice say, 'I knew it not.' There are degrees 
of vision, of wn'sdom and revelation in the knowledge 
of Christ, sufficient to explain the first hesitation of 
John and the burst of wonder when the heavens 
opened over him." * John was in daily expectation 
of the Messiah's appearance in Israel, and, as his ap- 
pointed herald, could not fail now to have at least a 

* See also Farrars Life of Christ, vol. i, p. 117 ; Meander's Life of 
Christ, p. 70, Bohn's edition; Presseiise's Life of Christ, pp. 50, 51; 
Hanna's Early Years of Christ, p. 163. 



The Baptism of Jesus. 253 

strong impression that he was present. His heart 
went out toward the Christ in partial recognition, 
even though the promised Messianic sign had not yet 
been given. In appearance Jesus was wholly differ- 
ent from those with whom he mingled. There is a 
majesty about genuine goodness which commands 
respect and even reverence ; and w^hen the prophet 
looked upon that strong yet gentle face, so expressive 
of greatness of character and purity of life such as 
never before had appeared among men, he was at 
once conscious that he stood in the presence of some 
extraordinary personage. John's fierce spirit would 
not for an instant quail before an earthly king, were 
he Jew or Roman. He had only stern words for the 
greatest and proudest of men who came to him in a 
self-righteous spirit. But here was a soul of spotless 
purity ; here were eyes from which shone the very 
light of heaven. Here was a brow upon which not 
only the highest beauty, but the tenderest love, the 
profoundest wisdom, the loftiest purpose, the holiest 
aspirations, and the most perfect fidelity to truth, all 
sat enthroned, and John was at once " overawed and 
captivated." Hitherto he had been confronted by a 
hard, deceitful people whose sins he had fearlessly and 
fiercely denounced, and for whom he had only the one 
message, "Repent! repent!" but now the Lamb of 
God, without spot or blemish, with a countenance 
before the majesty of which enemies were hereafter 
to shrink back and fall overcome to the ground (John 



254 John the Baptist. 

xviii, 6), stands before him. Instantly, with the in- 
spiration of a prophet, he more than half grasps the 
mighty truth that this is the King himself, come at 
last to set up the kingdom of heaven among men. 
As quickly comes the thought, " The servant is not 
greater than his lord," and with a humility and gen- 
tleness which proved his own perfection of character, 
and shed an eternal luster upon his life, he declined 
to perform a rite which seemed, to imply that he was 
Jesus's superior. As a mere form John could ap- 
propriately baptize Christ ; but he was a baptizer of 
sinners unto repentance, a grace and a rite of which 
the sinless One had no need. Therefore, in words of 
reverent expostulation he said to the Master, " I have 
need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ? " 
Equally beautiful was the reply of Jesus, " Suffer it 
to be so now (since it is but a momentary relation 
between us) : for thus it becometh us to fulfill all 
righteousness." As though he had said, "^ This act 
of mine has an especial meaning, although you do not 
seem to understand it. It does not mean repentance 
on my part, but it will fulfill all rigliteousness. It is 
becoming my mission to submit to humilities; it 
becomes your ofiice to recognize my submission, and 
together we may meet every legal and official re- 
quirement." "^ Then he suffered him. 

" How does the baptizer look upon him ? With a 
quiet countenance, as he would regard an ordinary 
* See Whedon on Matt, iii, 15. 



The Baptism of Jesus. 255 

person? Had he not already conceived for Jesus an 
unspeakable reverence ? He has just now refused to 
baptize him, before whom he felt himself as nothing. 
Again and again he has said that lie was not worthy 
to unloose the latchets of Jesus's shoes. To John's 
mind the moment was one of breathless excitement. 
To Jesus as well the occasion is of untold interest. 
Whatever it was to others, the rite w^as no formality 
to him. We can scarcely conceive what were his 
feelings. Binding himself irrevocably, and in spot- 
less pureness of spirit, to the work he undertakes for 
the w^orld ; giving himself up to the perfect will of 
God, he has now, if he never had it before, a com- 
plete certaint}^ of his own life and destiny. He 
makes real before the world the wish, the purpose, 
the eager desire, which has before existed in the 
depth of his own bosom." ^ Self -consecration, per- 
fect faith, perfect love, and certainty of the Father's 
presence and favor, are all written upon his divinely 
illumined and beautiful face as John leads him to 
the baptism. Never was the symbol of spiritual 
integrity and purity so befitting its place and use 
as now. 

While John was administering the solemn sacra- 
ment the full prophetic inspiration fell upon him, 
and, coming up from the water, both he and Jesus 
(Matt, iii, 16; John i, 32) saw the heavens open, and 
the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descend and 

* Dr. Furness. 



256 John the Baptist. 

hover over and at last rest upon the head of Christ. 
Neander truly says : " In this John saw a sign of the 
permanent abode of the Holy Spirit in Jesus ; not 
merely as a distinction from the inspired seers of the 
old dispensation, but also as the necessary condition 
of his bestowing the divine life upon others. It in- 
dicated that the power of the Spirit in him was not a 
sudden and abrupt manifestation, as it was in the 
prophets, who felt its inspiration at certain times and 
by transitory impulses ; but a continuous and unbroken 
operation of the Holy Ghost, the infinite fullness of 
the divine life in human form. The quiet fliglit and 
the resting dove betoken no rushing torrent of in- 
spiration, no sudden seizure of the Spirit, but a uni- 
form unfolding of the life of God, the loftiness yet 
the calm repose of a nature itself divine, the indwell- 
ing of the Spirit so that he could impart it to 
others and fill them completely with it, not as a 
prophet, but as a Creator." * 

John probably did not fully comprehend the " es- 
sential unity of the divine and human," w^iich was 
thus consummated in his very presence, as we who 
are believers in Christ now do ; but he grasped it as 
far as possible from his stand-point, especially when 
it was more definitely and clearly indicated to him 
by an audible voice proceeding from heaven, or w^hat 
men would call the opening firmament or sky, from 
whence had come the dove-like form, and saying, 

♦Li/e of Christ, p. 71. 



The Baptism of Jesus. 257 

'' Tliis is iny beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased." These words " cannot possibly be applica- 
ble, in their full meaning, to any mere man, but to 
him alone in whom the perfect union of God and 
man was exhibited and the idea of humanity com- 
pletely realized. It was this union that made it 
possible for a holy God to he well pleased in man. 
The voice was the expression of the idea w^hich the 
vision itself involved. We consider then that the 
vision and the voice contained a subjective revelation 
of the Holy Spirit, intended exclusively for the Bap- 
tist, to convince him thoroughly that he w^hose 
coming he had proclaimed and whose w^^y he had 
prepared had really appeared." * 

John the Baptist heard the voice and knew the 
truth. He knew that the Spirit of God had come 
then and there upon him whom he had been 
persuaded to baptize. ^' I saw it," he says — '' I saw 
the Spirit descend as a dove descends." It was, in- 
deed, a most beautiful and impressive symbol. The 
terminology of the Christian Church, the poetry and 
art of the Christian era, have caught up the word 
and glorified the figure. The gentleness and purity 
of the swooping dove will ever be tlie types of God's 
own Spirit dwelling with certainty in the hearts of 
his children, and making clean and holy his earthly 
kingdom. 

Here we have a dramatic or scenic illustration of 

* Meander's Life of Christy p. 72, and foot-note. 
16 



258 John the Baptist. 

the Trinity. The incarnate Son is proclaimed by the 
voice of the Fatlier and consecrated and witnessed 
by the Holy Spirit. As for John, he had rapidly 
passed through an experience which would have un- 
settled the nnnd of a man less strong and holy than 
he. From ignorance, expressed in the words, "I 
knew him not," he had passed to active faith as con- 
sciousness of the Messiah's presence began to dawn 
upon him, and from thence to abiding knowledge 
when the divjne voice broke upon his expectant 
ear. Now he could honestly and emphatically 
identify Jesus to the world as the veritable Lamb of 
God. 

^^ This baptism scene marked the birth-hour of 
Christianity. From this moment it had a place, if 
not a definite name, in the w^orld. Henceforth it 
was to be a living, visible, growing, divine force 
among men. The pure white flo\yer of the Gospel 
had begun to blossom upon the quickened stalk of 
the law, and as petal by petal it unfolded the nations 
were amazed by its heavenly beauty, and the whole 
earth was filled with its fragrance. 

Why did our Lord submit to John's baptism ? 
From the earliest times his motive has been variously 
conceived by Christian writers. Jerome says: "In 
the Gospel which the Nazarenes use there is the fol- 
lowing narrative : ' The mother of the Lord and his 
brethren said to him, John the Baptist baptizes unto 
the remission of sins : let us go and be baptized by 



The Baptism of Jesus. 259 

Iiim. But he said to them, In what have I sinned, 
that I should go and be baptized by him'« unless, 
by chance, this very thing which I have said is ignor- 
ance.' " * Thus from tlie beginning the Church has 
always recognized a difficulty in the fact that the 
spotless son of God should observe a rite which was 
practically a confession of sin. Jerome, as quoted 
by various writers on this subject, considered the 
baptism of Christ to have been " the final cause of 
the b^^ptism by John, as providing the ready means 
by which the forerunner would introduce the Christ 
to the multitude; that thus, moreover, authority 
would be given to the ministry of John, and that (as 
Augustine said) men would not henceforth hesitate 
to go to the baptism of the Lord himself, since he 
had not hesitated to submit to the baptism of his 
servant." John Calvin said : " The general cause 
why Christ was baptized was that he might perform 
obedience unto his Father, and the special cause was 
that he might in his own body consecrate baptism, 
that it might be common to us with him." f 

Christ evidently ranked his action in seeking 
John's baptism among those of his Messianic calling. 
In his expression, " fulfill all righteousness," he an- 
nounced that he not only fulfilled in his own person 
the law of the Abrahamic covenant in circumcision, 
but also the spiritual law of Christianity which he 

* Adv. Pelagian., Lib. iii, as quoted by Dr. Reynolds. 
f Harmony nf Gospels, in loco. 



260 John the Baptist. 

was about to establish, and of which baptism was to 
be the appointed emblem. "^ 

It seems clear that though Jesus was sinless him- 
self he, nevertheless, accepted the baptism of repent- 
ance because he was to bear the sins of others ; to be 
tempted, to accept a burden of moral miseries, to 
suflFer keenest anguish, and at last to die for the 
race he came to represent. While it is a mystery 
which even the angels may never fully solve, it 
must, nevertheless, be acknowledged that Christ 
Jesus, the Divine One, not only touclied a fallen 
race, but entered into a most absolute union with it. 
This is graciously made to appear at the baptism, as 
well as in Gethsemane and on Calvary. 

"Christ assumed humanity that the penal liabili- 
ties of humanity might be imputed to him." In this 
act of baptism the holy, sinless human nature of 
Jesus confessed to a sense of absolute dependence 
upon the Father. True, he was then and always 
John's superior in nature ; but in administering the 
rite of baptism John held, for the time being, and 
by divine appointment, a higher office. He was like 
the Chief-Justice of the United States, who on in- 
auguration day administers the oath of office to the 
incoming President, and for the moment is the Pres- 
ident's official superior. Jesus was appointed to the 
highest and most sacred office ever held by man, 

* Compare McClintock and Strong, arts. "Baptism" and "Sacra- 
ment/' 



The Baptism of Jesus. 261 

and it was John's honorable prerogative, by admin- 
istering the solemn rite of baptism, to induct him 
into its holy duties. Every man was to have his 
own place in the coming kingdom. John the evan- 
gelist, Andrew, James, and Peter were baptized for 
fitness as apostles ; others were baptized as subjects ; 
but Christ was baptized as king.^ This rite of 
preparation and consecration marked the beginning 
of a new course of life. This new life was already 
within Jesus, and was to be gradually unfolded : while 
with his followers it was to be received from with- 
out, from a divine source. ''The baptism of the 
members of the new kingdom prepared them to 
receive pardon and salvation ; that of Jesus was his 
consecration to the work of hestowing those precious 
gifts." 

The connection of the baptism of Jesus with his 
temptation must not for a moment be lost sight of. 
Matthew, Mark, and Luke have all, in their narra- 
tives, knit the two scenes so closely together that 
their evident design was to impress us with their in- 
separability. " It is not in the noise and bluster of 
John's great camp-meeting that the Saviour stays. 
He had been willing to show that he is of the world, 
and not above the world. He is Son of man, though 
he be Son of God. But his kingdom is not of ob- 
servation. His reign is not to be marked by camps, 
or the gathering of armies. Let John Baptist com- 
* Compare Whedon on Matthew, p. 53. 



262 John the Baptist. 

plete his work of preparation. Not till preparation 
is over will the Nazarene begin. So is it — very likely 
to John's disappointment, perhaps to the surprise of 
Mary Mother and of the others who knew that his 
leaving Nazareth meant something for mankind — so 
is it that, all willed with God's own Spirit, Jesus 
leaves the camp, leav^es the throng of men, and goes 
alone into the wilderness. It is not in camps, it is 
not in throngs, it is in the lonely life of the obedient 
Son that the rescue of the world is to begin." ^ We 
shall fail to apprehend the full signiiicance of the 
temptation scene if in our thoughts we dissociate it 
from the wonderful revelation and proclamation on 
the banks of the Jordan. Augustine, somewhat ex- 
travagantly it would seem, calls the Lord's baptism 
"his second nativity." Without further reference, 
however, to the question thus suggested, it is safe to 
say Christ in that baptism w^as fully invested with his 
divine armor, and immediately retired to the wilder- 
ness to test its strength and temper on a fair field, and 
in a fair fight with the arch-fiend who so easily over- 
threw the first Adam in Paradise. His was a bap- 
tism of temptation and anguish and grief and blood, 
as well as a baptism of water. As we have not over- 
stated the significance of the baptism scene, so we 
cannot estimate too highly the importance of the 
struggle and the victory whereby the second Adam 
forever triumphs over man's most subtle and dan- 

* Dr. E. E. Hale. 



The Baptism of Jesus. 263 

gerous foe, and forever offers himself to a weak and 
buffeted race as able to succor all who henceforth are 
tempted, with a sympathy and grace which shall be 
sufficient for them. 

Ruskin, in speaking of the baptism of Christ as a 
subject for art, and particularly of Tintoret's noted 
picture of the scene, says : 

" Howev^er important, and however deep in its 
meaning, it supplies not to the ordinary painter ma- 
terial enough ever to form a picture of high interest. 
From the purity of Giotto to the intolerable, incon- 
ceivable brutality of Salvator, every order of feeling 
has been displayed in its treatment; but I am aware 
of no single case, except this of which I am about to 
speak, in which it has formed an expressive picture. 
Tintoret has thrown into this picture his utmost 
strength, and it becomes noble in his hands by his 
most singular imaginative expression, not only of the 
immediate fact, but of the whole train of thought of 
which it is suggestive; and by his considering the 
baptism not only as the submission of Christ to the 
fulfillment of all righteousness, but as the opening of 
the earthly struggle with the prince of the powers of 
the air, which, instantly beginning in tlie temptation, 
ended only on the cross. The river flows fiercely 
under the shadow of a great rock. From its opposite 
shore thickets of close, gloomy foliage rise against 
the rolling chasm of heaven, through which breaks 
the brightness of the descending Spirit. Across 



264 John the Baptist. 

these, dividing them asunder, is stretched a horizontal 
floor of flaky cloud, on which stand the hosts of 
heaven. Christ kneels upon the water, and does not 
sink. The figure of St. John is indistinct, but close 
beside his raised right arm there is a specter in the 
black shade ; the Fiend, harpy-shaped, hardly seen, 
glares down upon Christ with eyes of fire, w^aiting 
his time. Beneath this figure there comes out of the 
mist a dark hand, the arm unseen, extended to a net 
in the river, the spars of which are in the shape of a 
cross. Behind this the roots and under-stems of the 
trees are cut away by the cloud, and beneath it and 
through them is seen a vision of wild, melancholy, 
boundless light, the sweep of the desert ; and the 
figure of Christ is seen therein alone, with his arms 
lifted as in supplication or ecstasy, borne of the 
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 
"There are many circumstances which combine to 
give to this noble work a more than usually imaginative 
character. The symbolical use of the net, which is 
the cross-net still nsed constantly in the canals of 
Venice, and commonly throughout Italy, is of the 
same character as that of the carpenter's tools in the 
Annunciation ; but the introduction of the spectral 
figure is of bolder reach, and yet more that vision of 
the after-temptation which is expressly indicated as a 
subject of thought rather than of sight, because it is 
in a part of the scene which in fact must have been 
occupied by the trunks of the trees whose tops are 



The Baptism of Jesus. 265 

seen above. And another circumstance completes 
the mystic character of the whole : that the flaky 
clouds which support the angelic hosts take, on the 
right, where the light first falls upon them, the shape 
of the head of a fish — the well-known type both of 
the baptismal saci-ament and of Christ." ^ 

* Modern Painters^ vol. ii, pp. It 2-1 74. 



266 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE THREEFOLD TESTIMONY. 

Immediately after the temptatioi), which occurred 
somewliere in the wilderness between the plain of 
Jericho and Jerusalem, the victorious Jesus returned 
to the banks of the Jordan, and mingled again, unno- 
ticed and unknown, among the disciples of John. 
The time had come for his public ministry to begin, 
but he was not to announce himself. John had been 
divinely appointed to receive the evidences of his 
Messiahship, and to officially introduce him to the 
expectant nation ; and he patiently awaited the Bap- 
tist's movements. On the day of Jesus's return a dele- 
gation from the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem arrived in 
camp, with full authority to question John as to his 
character and claims, and to demand of him an une- 
quivocal declaration of the nature of his strange mission. 
These deputies undoubtedly cherished some hostile 
purpose in their hearts; but outwardly they approached 
the great preacher with true Oriental politeness, giving 
expression alike to the curiosity of the common peo- 
ple and the deep desire of the learned and devout 
throughout the land, in the straightforward question, 
" Who art thou ? " They still were smarting under 



The Threefold Testimony. 267 

John's scathing denunciations of the hypocrisy and 
sellisliness of the aristocratic class to which they be- 
longed ; and they knew if they could entrap him into 
an open profession of a particular mission, undertaken 
by some especial authority, they w^ould have the right 
to arrest him for stirring up such a popular excite- 
ment, and compel him either to make good his claims 
or submit to punishment as an impostor. But with 
all their adroitness John was more than a match for 
them. With true prophetic insight he at once de- 
tected their insincerity, and with true prophetic skill 
he not only thwarted their sinister purpose but seized 
upon a most favorable opportunity to make an impor- 
tant and startling announcement. Some of his more 
sanguine and ambitious disciples may have given out 
that their Master was the Messiah himself ; and as 
such news would naturally travel rapidly from mouth 
to mouth, especially when society was in such a fer- 
ment of excitement and expectancy, it undoubtedly 
had reached the ears of the dignitied but watchful 
rulers at the capital. John at first silenced all such 
false rumors by an explicit denial, creditable alike to 
his head and his heart, to his wisdom and his loyalty. 
He said, "I am not the Christ." ^ohn i, 19-28. An- 
other report that may have been spread abroad was 
that the prophecy of Malachi was now fulfilled, and 
that the Baptist was the veritable Elijah returned 
from heaven to preach, with his old-time vehemence 
and fire, a new gospel, near the very spot from which 



268 John the Baptist. 

lie had ascended to glory. Mai. iv, 5. So these offi- 
cial examiners, following up their first question by a 
second equally direct, asked John, " "What then ? Art 
thou Elias ? " To this he gives a prompt and em- 
phatic negative. 

It was generally believed that the prophet foretold 
by Moses, as like unto himself — which some of the 
learned doctors identified as Jeremiah — would accom- 
pany Elijah on his return to the earth ; so the depu- 
ties put to John the further question, "Art thou that 
prophet ? " and he bluntly answered them, " No." ^ 
At last, leaving all conjectures and suppositions, they 
said unto him again, " Who art thou ? that we may 
give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest 
thou of thyself ? " John would not tell them who he 
was, but he seemed w^illing to at least give them an 
inkling as to what he was. Therefore, taking up a 
reference to the prophet Isaiah (Isa. xl, 3), which they 
readily understood, and in which he claims the dig- 
nity of being foretold by ancient prophecy, he said, 
" I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make 
straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet 
Esaias." As has been said, " John humbly yet sub- 
limely pronounced himself to be not the Word, but a 
voice; yet what a voice! the heraldic voice of a di- 
vine warning to prepare the w^ay for the great King." 
Lange says, in his Life of Christ : " Clement of Alex- 
andria calls the Baptist the voice or sound of the 

* Matt, xvi, 14; Herzog, vol. vi, 482; ix, 432; 4 Esdras ix, 18. 



The Threefold Testimony. 269 

Logos. This expression is ingenious ; though we must 
remark that the Logos has his own peculiar sound, 
and John his own special mode of thought proceed- 
ing from tlie life of the Logos. If we adhere to 
Clement's figurative language, we may say that John 
is to be regarded as a clear trumpet-tone in which 
the Israelitish feeling for the Messiah expresses 
itself, and his forthcoming manifestation was an- 
nounced ; or as the clear response which the sound of 
the incarnate eternal Word, in his New Testament 
fullness, called forth in the last and noblest prophet 
of the Old Testament dispensation." ^ 

Every true preacher may call himself a " voice," an 
utterance from the life and word of God. Through 
him God really speaks with a tone of power and 
authority that awes. It was not so much John's mar- 
velous gifts as an orator as his living power of devo- 
tion to a great truth that commanded the attention of 
men and held them spell-bound while, as it were, the 
very thunders of Sinai burst upon them and sent them 
to their knees with cries of contrition and pleadings 
for mercy. God has always honored the voice of the 
living speaker when he would make lost, or sorrowing, 
or oppressed, or burdened, or self-sacrificing men feel 
the nearness and reality of his presence to lift up and 
to save. Notably did he thus honor the voice of John. 
When the people heard the voice of that sublime 
child of the wilderness, they felt that its tones broke 
* Vol. ii, p. 10. 



270 John the Baptist. 

from a holy and mighty life within. The living voice 
became a living power, revealing God's justice and 
mercy, and arousing men to honest deeds betokening 
honest purposes. 

Too blind and bigoted to see the just force of 
John's claim, the questioners, who were of the sect 
of the Pharisees, and strenuously held that " no 
prophet, after Moses, had a right to introduce any 
new sacred usage, rite, or ceremony among the Mosaic 
institutions, except the arrived Messiah himself," 
changed their tactics, and tried to entrap John by 
peremptorily challenging his authority for the sacred 
rite he was daily administering to his followers. They 
therefore asked him, " Why baptizest thou, then, if 
thou be not Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" 
John now utterly refused to recognize their juris- 
diction and right to interrogate him ; but their last 
demand served to unloose his tongue, and gave him 
an opportunity to bear his first exact testimony to 
the Christ who had already been divinely revealed 
to him ; and he answered tliem : " I baptize with wa- 
ter: but there standeth one among you, whom ye 
know not; Ileitis who, coming after me, is preferred 
before me, whose shoe-latchets I am not worthy to 
unloose." 

Dr. Lange remarks that '^ John's testimony is 
stronger here than preaching, stronger even than 
prophecy as hitherto existing. He appeared first as 
a preacher, a preacher of repentance. But the 



The Threefold Testimony. 271 

preacher showed himself at the same time a prophet, 
announcing under divine impulse the approach of 
the Messianic kingdom. And then, in the miraculous 
manifestation at the baptism of Jesus, through the 
testimony of God he became a witness of the person 
of Jesus of Nazareth that he is the Messiali ; so to 
speak, an apostle before the apostolate. As a prophet 
w^ho, by divine commission, pointed to the Messiah, 
he completed the Old Testament prophecy in testi- 
mony. And for this testimony he was come. His 
mission rose into the office of forerunner. x\nd even 
his martyrdom, in the strict sense, is in keeping. 
He sealed his preparatory preaching of repentance 
with his death." * 

The deputies from Jerusalem, being on the search 
for occasion against John and not for profitable 
knowledge even of the expected Messiah, and gath- 
ering but little satisfaction from the Baptist's replies, 
evidently did not trouble themselves to make any 
further investigations as to who and where this other 
person, greater than John, was, but took up their 
homeward journey conscious that they had been baf- 
fled and defeated in their malignant purpose, and no 
doubt tlioroughly ashamed of the meager report they 
should be obliged to give on the morrow to the wait- 
ing Sanhedrin. 

So another day passed and Jesus remained un- 
known. It was necessary for John to point him out ; 

* On John i, 7. 



272 JoHj^ THE Baptist. 

and this fact confirms our belief that none but Jesus 
and John saw the dove or heard the voice on the day 
of the baptism, else many of John's disciples would 
have been quick to recognize the divinely proclaimed 
One on his return from the desert. But, as it was 
Jesus w^as hidden in the very midst of the multitude 
until John's hand lifted the veil of obscurity. 

The very next day witnessed the climax of John's 
career ; but it came, as great historical events often 
come, in a manner so simple and unostentatious that 
at the time it attracted but little attention. Jesus 
singled himself out from the people among whom he 
had been " standing," and quietly approached the 
prophet, as though he would give him the opportu- 
nity he sought. John i, 29. The multitude saw only 
a singularly beautiful and attractive young man, with 
great dignity of person and gentleness of manner ; 
but John, whose eyes had been opened, saw in this 
unassuming Nazarene the inspiring Hope of the ages, 
the Saviour of the Jew first but also of the Gentile, 
the pledged Word of God, the rightful King of the 
new kingdom, and, with words which must have 
thrilled the hearts of all within reach of his ringing 
voice, he sounded forth the proclamation for which 
the ages had been listening, and toward the publish- 
ing of which his entire life and ministry had con- 
verged : " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh 
away the sin of the world ! This is he of whom I 
said. After me cometh a man which is preferred be- 



The Threefold Testimony. 273 

fore me ; for he was before me. And I knew him 
not : but that he should be made manifest to Israel, 
therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John 
bare record, saying, I saw" the Spirit descending from 
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I 
knew him not : but he that sent me to baptize with 
water, the same said unto me. Upon whom thou shalt 
see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the 
same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 
And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of 
God." John i, 29-34. 

John was speaking now under the prophetic im- 
pulse, and may not have himself understood tlie full 
import of all his words ; but, making no reference to 
those titles of the Messiah which were especially 
popular with the Jews — such as " Jesus the Messiah," 
the " Prince," and " King of Israel," etc. — he applied 
to him two titles which, while they were scriptural^ 
were afterward especially offensive to the Jews, who 
made the assumption of them by Jesus the ground 
of their charge of blasphemy against him. " Lamb of 
God " and " Son of God " are the most comprehen- 
sive titles which the Baptist could possibly have be- 
stowed upon the Christ ; for while they have but 
slight reference to his royal dignity, and therefore 
could not meet the popular idea, they present the short- 
est, most distinct and compendious statement of the 
Gospel of the kingdom that can be found either in or 

out of the Scriptures. The spotless human nature of 

17 



274 John the Baptist. 

Christ, his divine nature, the freeness and complete- 
ness of the Father's sacrifice, the eflScacy of Jesus's 
shed blood, and the consequent fullness of the salva- 
tion offered to all who believe, are here most clearly 
and strikingly set forth. Lamb of God was a term 
full of meaning to the men of Israel, who were 
familiar with the promise of their father Abraham to 
Isaac on the way to the mount of sacrifice (Gen. 
xxii, 8), and they did not need Paul's Epistle to the 
Hebrews to enable them to understand its real im- 
port. Perhaps, as Dean Milman suggests,"^ one of 
those large flocks of lambs intended for the temple 
sacrifices was just then passing from the rich pastures 
of Perea to the ford beside which John was baptiz- 
ing, and may have turned the mind of John toward 
the old prophetic symbol of Christ, and led him to 
formulate and helped his hearres to understand the 
meaning of the title " Lamb of God." At any rate 
the people were accustomed to see every day two 
lambs sacrificed upon the great altar of the temple, 
one in the morning and one in the evening ; and they 
knew that somehow those sacrifices, in connection 
with other sacrifices and ceremonies of their national 
ritualism, prefigured the expiation and forgiveness of 
sins which should be the prerogative of the expected 
Messiali. " The lamb slain on the altar thus became 
the type of worship in the Jewish mind, the method 
of approach to God." f 

* Milman's Christianity, p. 76. f Compare Ecce Homo, p. 12. 



The Threefold Testimony. 275 

John's hearers probably did not understand, how- 
ever, liis evident reference in the use of this title to 
the prediction of Isaiah, thereby making Jesus to be 
the lamb of prophecy. Isa. liii, 7. In the writings 
of the old prophet John had already found a fitting 
title for himself with which to meet the captious 
questionings of the Pharisees ; and now, as fully an- 
swering the requirements of his wonderful proclama- 
tion, he is prompted to borrow from the same source 
an appellation so exactly describing the character and 
mission of the man Jesus that the learning and piety 
of the Church will forever recognize the felicity of 
its choice. 

While nearly all his countrymen were dreaming 
of national glory, and talking of war and conquest 
and kingly power and splendor as belonging to the 
advent of the Messiah, he saw that ^^ the Lamb and 
not the Lion was to woo and win back the prodigal 
to the Father's bosom," and the words that he uttered 
gave fitting expression to his comprehension of the 
Father's infinite tenderness in stooping to embrace 
and lift up fallen humanity. John himself had known 
the torments of sin ; he had witnessed its ravages in 
the nation he loved, and liad traced its bitterness in 
the faces of all who came to hear his gospel of repent- 
ance ; and when Jesus was revealed to him as the 
One anointed to expiate and to " take away sin," to 
" heal the broken-hearted and preach deliverance to 
the captives," his inmost soul rejoiced. Looking into 



276 John the Baptist. 

the future, he saw the spreading glory of the new 
kingdom which was to be set up in all lands. He 
saw the great army of souls rejoicing in God's eman- 
cipating love, and was humbly grateful that he had 
been called to herald such a mighty Gospel, although 
his mission was to be brief, and his career might 
end in persecution, and even a violent and untimely 
death. 

Dr. Whedonsays : "Strauss and others wonder how 
it is that John should understand the doctrine of the 
atonement, of which even the apostles at the time of 
Christ's resurrection had but little conception. Our 
reply is that John at this time w^as living in inspired 
communication from God, as is repeatedly declared. 
He understood it as Isaiah announced it centuries 
beforehand. We do not doubt that there were num- 
bers of the more spiritual Jews who understood the 
prophetic and typical doctrines of the atonement ; 
but of all persons in the nation none should have a 
more clear view (even if it had to be obtained by im- 
mediate prophetic revelation) of the true nature of the 
Messiah's office than he^ the harbinger himself. His 
clearness of view, in this the bright morning of his 
mission, may not only have been clearer than that of 
the apostles during the Saviour's sojourn, but clearer 
than even lie possessed when in the day of darkness 
and trial he sent his message from prison to Jesus. 
Nor is it true that the Baptist is represented by our 
evangelist as expressing views of the dignity and 



The Threefold Testimony. 277 

future history of Jesus in advance of any thing he is 
made to utter in the first three gospels. Tlie Bap- 
tist is clearly made to declare that the personage 
whose forerunner he is is the Lord, that is, Jehovah, 
in Matt, iii, 3; he indicates the call of the Gentiles 
in Matt, iii, 9 ; he ascribes the sending of the Holy 
Ghost to Christ, Matt, iii, 11 ; and he pronounces 
Christ the judge and executor of final and eternal 
retribution in Matt, iii, 12. Our present evangelist 
is indeed, as he proposes to be, more diffuse and ex- 
tended in representing the Baptist's testimony to 
the high personality of Jesus ; but he is not more 
decisive. The Baptist's Christ is just as divine 
a being in the first evangelist as in the last." ^ 

John's assertion of Christ's character, in the words, 
'' I saw, and bare record, that this is the Son of Ood^'' 
is capable of but one signification. We cannot 
justly put upon it any other meaning than that 
afforded bj^ the ancient prophets w^ho declared that 
the Messiah should be '^ God with us ; the Lord 
our righteousness ; the mighty God, the everlasting 
Father." Isa. vii, 14 ; ix, 6 ; Jer. xxiii, 6 ; Matt, 
i, 23. 

The Baptist's second testimony to the character 
and mission of Jesus, given in the presence and hear- 
ing of the multitude, seems to have attracted but 
little attention ; at least it was followed by no imme- 
diate outward and visible results. The revealed 

* Comment on John i, 29. 



278 John the Baptist. 

truth was so great, and accompanied by so little 
explanation, that the nnexpecting and really un- 
prepared people did not comprehend it. Some 
curiosity may have been aroused as to one so beau- 
tiful in form and dignified in manner, about 
whom such strange things had been said by the 
eccentric preacher, but aside from that Jesus 
came and went, seemingly, as unnoticed as be- 
fore. So John resolved on another mode of tes- 
timony. 

The next day he was standing apart from the 
crowd in conversation with two of his most intelligent 
and devout disciples — John, afterward the evangelist, 
and Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter — when Jesus 
was seen walking a little distance from them, alone 
and in contemplative silence. In a most solemn and 
emphatic manner John fastened his penetrating eye 
upon the young Galilean, thereby directing the at- 
tention of the two disciples to him, and repeated a 
part of his declaration of the day before, " Behold 
the Lamb of God! " leaving their memory to supply 
the remainder of that startling and prophetic disclos- 
ure. This expression, " Lamb of God," fastened it- 
self in the mind and heart of the future evangelist, 
although he did not yet understand in what sense 
Jesus was that Lamb, or how by him man's sin was 
to be taken away. He was familiar with the cere- 
monies of the great national fast-day, called the Day 
of Atonement, when expiation was made for the sins 



The Threefold Testimony. 279 

of the nation. He had often seen the two lambs or 
kids brouglit to the temple, the one to be sacrificed 
npon the altar, and the other (after a piece of scar- 
let cloth, typical of the sins of the people, had been 
bound upon it) to be led off into the wilderness and 
set free ; and he knew that the two goats typified the 
one glorious truth that the sins of the people were 
borne away and lost sight of forever.^ The con- 
nection, however, between this impressive scene and 
the Baptist's declaration concerning Christ he did 
not at once understand ; but in after years, when long 
association with the Master had opened up to him 
the full meaning of that wonderful appellation, it 
became the favorite and oft-repeated title by 
w^hich in his written Gospel he loved to refer to our 
Lord. 

This third explicit testimony of the Baptist to 
Jesus was so effective that it cost him two of his 
most valued disciples, and was the occasion for the 
first fulfillment of his own prophetic words as to the 
relative importance of his own and the Messiah's 
missions, " He must increase, but I must decrease ; " 
words which, referring, as they do, to John's 
suddenly waning prestige and untimely end, as 
well as the rising, spreading glory of the new 
kingdom, are as full of pathos as they are of 
promise. 

♦Compare Lev. xvi with McClintoek's and Strong's Bib. Cyc, art, 
*' Atonement, Day of." 



280 John the Baptist. 

The religious feeling had been thoroughly aroused 
in Jolm and Andrew by the preaching of the Bap- 
tist. Not only was the national expectation of the 
Messiah's kingdom quickened in them, not only had 
they intelligently received baptism as typifying a 
spiritual preparation for citizenship in that kingdom, 
but their hearts had been deeply moved. They 
were conscious of a painful sense of spiritual need. 
They longed for a guide, a teacher ; one who 
could perfect the work which had been so well 
begun by the Baptist ; and very naturally they be- 
gan to hope that such a helper might be found 
in the one thus pointed out to them. So they fol- 
lowed him, and the Baptist did not forbid them. 
He may have been conscious of a feeling of 
regret that even his chief disciples should turn to- 
ward another; but he was too great and too loyal 
to make the least effort to restrain them. He 
knew that unconsciously they were putting them- 
selves under a better, higher guidance than he 
could give. He was permitted to catch a glimpse, 
at least, of the end from the beginning, and his 
great soul was satisfied. He might soon disap- 
pear from the public sight, but his mission was 
not a failure. Henceforth his own name and 
brief work would be inseparably connected in 
men's thoughts with that of his Lord. So, not only 
was he willing, but glad, that these choice disciples, 
and others like unto them, should follow this 



The Threefold Testimony, 281 

new Master, while he would still stand in liis ap- 
pointed place, abating not a jot of his fearless mes- 
sage, maintaining to the last his uncompromising 
integrity and his fiery, compelling eloquence. 

Dr. Lange well says : '' The greatness of the Bap- 
tist and the majesty of Christ appear in John's point- 
ing his disciples to Christ, and Christ attaching the 
best of them immediately to himself. In these dis- 
ciples of John the spiritual perfection of the work of 
the Baptist is seen. 



282 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

INCREASING AND DECREASING. 

** Where is the lore the Baptist taught, 
The soul unswerving and the fearless tongue ? 

The much-euduring wisdom, sought 
B}^ lonely prayer the haunted rocks among? 

Who counts it gain his light should wane, 
So the whole world to Jesus throng." 

— Christian Year. 

After his first passover and his night interview 
with Nieodenms our Lord left Jerusalem and started 
on a slow journey through Samaria into Galilee. 
Keaching a retired district of the country in north- 
eastern Judea, near the western bank of the Jordan, 
he tarried there for a month or two, and while he 
taught his disciples baptized the coming multi- 
tudes. 

John also was preaching and baptizing near by, at 
Enon, a place where there were many springs and 
rivulets which, whatever the mode of baptism, would 
be very essential to the convenience and comfort of 
his numerous followers."^ Jesus and John said but 
little in reference to each other, but the few words 

* For full consideration of the various opinions of scholars as to 
the exact location of Enon see McClintock and Strong's Biblical Cy- 
clopedia; Geikie's Life of Christy vol. i, p. 512. 



Inckeastng and Decreasing. 283 

they did utter showed the highest mutual regard 
and tlie utmost congeniality of spirit. There was 
no conflict in their teachings and no rivalry in 
their baptisms. Both baptisms were initiatory ; a cer- 
emonial consecration and cleansing of the people in 
token of fitness for the new kingdom and tlie service 
of the new King. Having, therefore, the same ob- 
ject, there could certainly be no objection to their 
being continued together. The Jewish Church 
failed to profit by the solemn rite, as it had learned 
no lesson from the cleansing of the temple by Christ, 
which was an act of the same import ; so in a short 
space of time both John and the disciples of Jesus 
ceased to baptize, and the ceremony was not renewed 
until after the ascension of Jesus, when it was ex- 
tended to embrace the world of Christian believers, 
and perpetuated as the sacramental and ceremonial 
door into the Church, for Jew and Gentile alike — 
those who had received John's baptism of repentance 
as well as those who had not. Acts xix, 1-7. Thus 
far John 5 true to the position that had been assigned 
him, had continued the work begun under such au- 
spicious circumstances, but which was soon to be 
terminated by his unjust imprisonment and cruel 
death. His followers were still numerous, and his 
disciples manifested a zeal most appropriate to their 
calling, which zeal, after their leader was removed, 
was to perpetuate their organization, through such 
as had not believed in Christ as the Messiah, until 



284 John the Baptist. 

long after Pentecost and the firm establishment of 
the Christian Church. Says Neander: ''It does not 
militate at all against our position, in regard to the 
Baptist's recognition of Christ, that many of his dis- 
ciples did not join the Saviour at a later period ; and 
even that a sect vras formed from them hostile to 
Christianity. We have already seen that it was nec- 
essary for John to maintain his independent sphere 
of labor, and that his position naturally led him to 
direct only the more susceptible of his disciples to 
Jesus, and that, too, by degrees. These latter were 
probably such as had imbibed more of John's longing 
desire for 'him that was to come' than of the austere 
and ascetic spirit of the sect. As to the rest, we 
have only to say that we have no right to judge the 
master by his scholars, or the scholars by their master. 
Men who hold a position preparatory and conducive 
to a higher one often retain the peculiar and one- 
sided views of their old ground, and are even driven 
into an attitude of opposition to the new and better. 
This seems to have been the case with John's disci- 
ples in relation to Christianity. It is a matter of 
fact that John openly recognized Jesus as the Mes- 
siah when he baptized him." "^ 

When it was noised abroad that Jesus was sojourn- 
ing in this rural place the common people, who al- 
ways heard him gladly, left Jerusalem, and the other 
cities and villages of that region, and came in great 

^ Life of Christy Book iii, chap, ii, sec. 41. 



Increasing and Decreasing. 285 

numbers to listen to his words, and to be baptized 
by his disciples. This new popular movement natu- 
rally aroused the opposition of the jealous Pharisees, 
and they immediately concocted a plan for breaking 
it up. 

They again sent deputies to John's camp with in- 
structions to sow the seeds of dissension between his 
disciples and those of Jesus, by raising the question 
of the relative value of the two baptisms. The Phari- 
sees, referring to Christ's well-known miracles at the 
late passover, and also to the fact that his followers 
were now rapidly increasing in numbers, insisted 
upon it that the superiority was on Jesus's side. 
John's disciples, who were by no means as humble or 
as wise as their master, still contended that the pri- 
ority of John's advent, together with the fact that he 
baptized and proclaimed Jesus, plainly gave him the 
pre-eminence. Zealous in their partisanship, and 
heated by the dispute, John's disciples at last came 
to him ; and with the tone of men whose feelings 
have been hurt, and who have a just grievance, they 
said to him : " Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond 
[or east of] Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, 
behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to 
him." John iii, 22-36. Their phraseology indicated 
their belief in Jesus's inferiority ; and, forgetting how 
emphatic was John's testimony to the kingship of 
Jesus, they still held their master as principal, and 
insisted that Jesus was simply with him. Their 



286 John the Baptist. ^ 

mortification because of the cunning argument of the 
Pliarisees, wliich had already set their minds against 
Jesus and his work, appeared also in their exagger- 
ated language that all men were flocking to the new 
teacher. They had already heard John's testimony 
in Jesus's favor, but they evidently did not understand 
it fully. They had no desire to go beyond John's 
teachings, wliich were, as we have seen, only 
preliminary in their character ; and they naturally 
thought it unreasonable that Jesus, who owed his 
very first disciples to John's testimony and influ- 
ence, should either exalt himself above the latter, 
or set up a rival camp in the immediate neighbor- 
hood. 

John's reply to his querulous disciples revealed the 
real greatness of the man more clearly than any thing 
he had before said or done. "' Do not wonder," he said, 
" at the growing influence of Jesus ; for it is accord- 
ing to God's order. Neither he nor I can have any 
power for good except it be given us from heaven. 
I, as a herald, have faithfully delivered my message 
to men, and my mission is now well-nigh ended. 
The fact that men join themselves to my kinsman is 
one proof that God hath sent him, and that he is 
divinely inspired to give them something higher, and 
therefore more satisfactory, than I can bestow. I will 
not aspire above my appointed office. You can all 
bear me witness that I never announced myself as 
the Messiah, but only as his forerunner. I am 



iNCREAiSma AND DECREASING. 287 

simply a herald sent before a superior. I have re- 
peatedly declared to the people that I am only a 
voice proclaiming a reality / a sandal-bearer going be- 
fore a Master so transcendently my superior that I 
am not worthy to unloose his shoe-latchets ; a mere 
outpourer of water foreshadowing the great out- 
pourer of the Spirit, who is, therefore, God. And 
mark you, while to your minds there may be some- 
thiiag humiliating in my present position, to me there 
is a compensation of the most exquisite joy. My 
work is about ended ; the goal of my brightest hopes 
is reached at last. As the chosen and chief friend of 
the Bridegroom — the Messiah — I have led to him the 
Bride — the Theocratic Congregation — and I rejoice 
to see the Christ about to be married to his new 
Church. I have been permitted to stir up the mul- 
titude to flock to the ministration of this Mightier 
One; the divine will is being accomplished, the 
divine order is being observed, and I can only be 
thankful and happy. He must increase, but I must 
decrease." Thus spoke the foremost man in all the 
land, showing forth his " splendid humility " and his 
sublime faith in God. 

Neander declares that "the great, the Godlike 
feature of John's character was his thorough under- 
standing of himself and his calling." He was con- 
tent to recede from the public sight while still in the 
prime of manhood, for he knew that his mission was 
fulfilled. In the establishment of the new kingdom 



288 John the Baptist. 

of heaven he had been honored with a divine com- 
mission, and he had no thought of even attempting 
to go bej^ond its limitations. Jolm was but a man, 
with all the common infirmities of our nature ; and it 
must have been a severe trial for him to know that 
by his side, in the region where he had enjoyed the 
most unexampled popularity, another had risen up 
whose success so far outstripped his own as to throw 
it entirely into the shade. From the very moment 
w^hen he had baptized Jesus, and publicly attested 
his Messiahship, the popular favor had been gradu- 
ally withdrawn from himself to be bestowed, with an 
increasing acclaim, upon this new Rabbi. But John 
was, indeed, one of the greatest of men. He had 
been fitted for this heavy burden, and he bore it not 
only without a murmur, but with an air of positive 
triumph. His serene patience was all the more 
beautiful as a characteristic of one so full of masculine 
energy, of such indomitable will, and noted for the 
exhibition of such strong passions. His fraternal 
love and loyalty to Christ was like unto that of Jona- 
than for David, and could spring only from the 
perfect harmony between his soul and the divine 
purpose. 

In John's remaining words to his disciples he bears 
his final testimony to the character and office of 
Christ ; going much beyond what he had said before, 
confirming in the most emphatic and unmistakable 
language all that Christ before or afterward claimed 



Increasing and Deckeasing. 289 

for himself.. In words of wondrous sublimity, reveal 
ing the tender adoration of his faithful heart, he 
concluded his testimony — a testimony that will ever 
be treasured by the Christian Church. 

" He that cometh from above is above all : he that 
is of the earth is earthy, and speaketh of the earth : 
he that cometh from heaven is above all. And what 
lie hath seen and heard, that he testifieth ; and no 
man receiveth his testimony. He tliat hath received 
his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. 
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of 
God : for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto 
him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all 
things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son 
hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the 
Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth 
on him." 

Such was John's bearing and such his speech on 
being told of the growing popularity of Jesus and 
the throngs which gathered around him and his disci- 
ples. But among the chief Jews at Jerusalem, who 
from the very beginning opposed Clirist with a 
vehemence born of bigotry and hypocrisy, the news 
produced a very different effect from that intended, 
increasing their rage and intensifying their hate, until, 
as a result, a storm burst over the head of Jesus which 
compelled him (since the hour for his sacrifice had 
not yet come) to retreat, with his immediate attend- 
ants, into Galilee. 
18 



290 John the Baptist. 

John faithfully continued his work foj a short time 
longer, and, although the rulers and the great men of 
the nation deserted him, from political motives, still' 
with all classes of the common people he was very 
popular. They still regarded him as a prophet sent 
from God, and so strongly were they attached to him 
that the rulers, for a time at least, dared not molest 
him, though they were bent on putting him out of 
their way the moment a favorable opportunity should 
present itself. 



The Arrest. 291 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE ARREST. 

Herod Antipas — whom Canon Farrar pronounces 
the pettiest, meanest, weakest, and most contemptible 
of titular princelings — was at this time tetrarch of 
Galilee and Perea. He was a son of Herod the Great 
by Malthace, a Samaritan woman. The Herods were 
of Idumean descent, but were Jews in faith, and as a 
family evidently cherished a desire to found a great 
and independent Jew^ish kingdom which should even 
rival the glory of Solomon's reign. The building of 
many fine cities and towns, the systematic strength- 
ening of the national government and influence, and 
especially the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, 
were all parts of this family scheme. The protection 
of Rome was at first a necessity, and the successive 
princes of this great family w^ere sufficiently crafty 
to court imperial favor, often with weak servility and 
a most suspicious show of humihty ; bat the design 
of Herod I. and Agrippa I., as well as the most 
prominent and pow^erful of those who came after 
them, plainly was to found an independent eastern 
empire. 

Herod the Great, w^ho was king of all Palestine, at 



292 John the Baptist. 

his death, according to the custom of the times, 
divided his kingdom between his three sons, which 
act was ratified by the imperial government. Ar- 
chelaus was made tetrarch of Judea, Samaria, and 
Idumea ; Philip, of Trachonitis and Iturea ; and 
Herod Antipas, of GaUlee and Perea. The latter 
prince was a true Herod, so far as his ambition and 
vast plans for personal aggrandizement were con- 
cerned, but, unlike his father, he was cowardly, short- 
sighted, and often showed himself weak in some great 
emergency when, of all times, he ought to have been 
strong. He was given to sensuality and voluptuous 
living, and was apt to be influenced in his public as 
well as private acts by his favorites, and that usually 
to his own hurt and the detriment of his kingdom. 
He had a passion for building fine palaces and castles, 
as well as enlarging and beautifying the chief cities 
of his realm. His most important enterprise in this 
direction was the building of the city of Tiberias on 
the Sea of Galilee, which he made his capital, giving 
it the name of the reigning Roman emperor, with 
whom he was a great favorite. Antipas had first 
married an Arabian princess, the daughter of Aretas, 
king of Petra, by which alliance he no doubt sought 
to strengthen himself in the East in harmony wuth 
the ambitious designs of his family. Some years 
after he entered upon a second matrimonial venture, 
a somewhat detailed account of which is not only es- 
sential to the completeness of our narrative, but will 



The Arrest. 293 

also illustrate the social life and some of the general 
characteristics of the age. 

Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, one of 
the accomplished sons of Herod the Great and Ma- 
riamne, and, consequently, sister of King Agrippa I. 
On her grandmother's side she belonged to the noble 
line of Asmonean princes, and is said to have pos- 
sessed the beauty and many of the accomplishments 
of the celebrated though unfortunate Mariamne, with 
but few of her virtues. On the death of her grand- 
mother Herodias became the favorite of her grand- 
father Herod, whose name she bore and whom she 
closely resembled in many particulars, being am- 
bitious, designing, heartless, unscrupulous, fearless, 
and bent on her own advancement at any cost. In 
compliance with the wishes of Herad the Great she 
married her uncle Herod Philip, who was heir- 
apparent to the throne, thereby gaining a position 
through which she had every prospect of eventually 
becoming queen of the Holy Land. But she was 
destined to be thwarted in her ambitious designs, for 
through the persistent intrigues for the succession, 
which made the closing years of King Herod's life 
intolerably wretched, her husband was disinherited 
and the kingdom divided between his three brothers, 
one of whom was also named Philip. Thereforje, on 
on the death of Herod the Great, Herodias and her 
husband were compelled to remove to Rome, where, 
beyond the reach of the jealous and royal brothers, 



294 John the Baptist. 

they lived as private citizens, but in the enjoyment of 
considerable wealth and the prestige of a notorious 
and influential^ if not honorable, family name. This 
sort of life proved more acceptable to Philip than 
that he had led at his father's court, and he settled 
down to the full enjoyment of it, utterly refusing to 
engage in the ambitions intrigues for a throne to 
which his discontented wife was constantly urging 
him. Herodias, however, was determined to be a 
queen at any cost, and, since she could not persuade 
her tame-spirited husband through war or criminal 
intrigue to grasp a crown, she secretly determined to 
secure another and more congenial spouse who was 
already crowned. Fortune seemed to favor her base 
schemes, for just at the right moment Antipas came 
to Rome, where, of course, he was entertained by his 
brother Philip. Herodias saw her opportunity, and 
was neither slow nor scrupulous in improving it. 
She at once employed all the charms of her great 
beauty and wit, as well as all the power of her in- 
domitable will, to captivate the tetrarch, and, as might 
be expected when we consider the character of the 
man, she completely succeeded. Antipas conceived 
a passion for the charming but wicked woman which 
was as near genuine love as any sentiment of which 
he was capable, and which remained unchanged to 
the end of life. Regardless of conscience, self-respect, 
or tlie Roman and Jewish law in the case, the two 
entered into a marriage contract, by the terms of 



The Arrest. 295 

which Herodias consented to abandon her lawful 
husband, Philip, and with her daughter Salome ac- 
company Antipas into Galilee, he agreeing, on their 
arrival there, to divorce his wife, the daughter of 
Aretas, and elevate his new love to the place of the 
deposed princess. Phihp seems to have quietly ac- 
quiesced in the arrangement, as though he were glad 
to be rid of such a wife, and believed that in any 
event his rash brother would finally get the worst of 
the bargain. 

All this, though characteristic of life among the 
princes and nobles of the day, was especially contrary 
to Jewish law, and when the guilty pair arrived at 
the royal palace at Tiberias, and began the marriage 
ceremonies and f eastings, by which they expressed 
their utter disregard of either the sentiments of the 
people or the sacred law of the land, the indignation 
of the entire nation was aroused, and every Galilean 
citizen seemed to share in spirit the disgrace which 
had fallen upon his prince. The daughter of Aretas, 
who had heard of her faithless husband's design be- 
fore his return from Rome, and whose high spirit 
could not brook such an insult to her person and her 
royal lineage, had, in the meantime, taken the mat- 
ter of divorce into her own hands, and gathering up 
her personal effects, and summoning her loyal per- 
sonal attendants, had departed (by Herod's permis- 
sion, who thouglit that his wife had not perceived 
any thing, and was simply desirous of a change of 



296 John the Baptist. 

air and scenery) to tlie castle of Macliserus, which 
was temporarily subject to her father. Y/hen all 
necessary preparations had been made by the generals 
of Aretas's army, she was rapidly conveyed to her fa- 
ther's court in Arabia."^ Aretas at once declared 
war upon Antipas, and gathered a large and entliu- 
siastic army to avenge his daughter's wrongs, while 
all Galilee and Perea, with but little love for their 
weak and wicked tetrarch, and thoroughly ashamed 
of their national cause, were yet compelled to rally 
to the defense of a leader who they knew merited 
the chastisement that was threatened. These soldiers 
of Herod's were stationed in great numbers east of 
the Jordan, to check all Bedouin lawlessness, and in 
preparation to meet the army of Aretas ; and some 
of them were daily seen coming and going in the 
Baptist's camp to consult this new Elijah, if per- 
chance they may gain some heart of hope for their 
dangerous and altogether unw^elcome enterprise. The 
politicians, too, are there, intent on watching the 
preacher who has such strange influence with the 
people, and to find out, if possible, before it is too 
late, whether the mass-meeting is favorable to Herod 
or is secretly in the interests of the Arab. 

John really cared little about the outcome of this 
great war between the crafty Bedouin and the un- 
principled tetrarch, but, like his courageous prototype, 
Elijah, he did not hesitate to denounce wickedness in 

*^ Josephup, Antiq., xviii, 5, 1. 



The Arrest. 297 

the very highest places. Knowing that the charac- 
ters and acts of the Herods were constantly bring- 
ing them into conflict with the Jewish law, to the 
grief and scandal of all pious citizens, he had not 
been slow to expose their selfish ambition, or to 
prophesy evil to the land if these rulers persisted in 
their stubborn disregard of the divine commands. 
Tliis having occurred in the territory of Antipas, the 
jealousy of tliat Oriental despot was aroused. A man 
who could call together and control such multitudes 
as John did, and who was so utterly fearless in his de- 
nunciations of all wrong, could not, in the estimation 
of a prince like Herod, be a safe leader, and must not 
be left to himself. The tetrarch's suspicious eye was, 
therefore, upon him ; and it only needed one act of 
fidelity to the truth, as against the profligate life 
of the court, to bring down upon him the tyrant's 
vengeance. The inevitable collision between the 
haughty ruler and the indomitable prophet soon came. 
Neither would yield his ground ; and the struggle 
finally ended in one of the darkest tragedies of those 
tragic times. 

Herod and his voluptuous court, probably, came 
into John's neighborhood to occupy for a season one 
of the sumptuous palaces which the wealthy prince 
delighted to build ; and the presence of royalty not 
only aroused the curiosity of the people, but gave a 
suitable opportunity for John to vent his rigliteous 
indignation, and to free his conscience as a faitliful 



298 John the Baptist. 

promoter of rigliteousness. John felt that he had a 
political as well as a religious duty to perfornijand he 
unsparingly censured the tetrarch and his ambitious 
paramour ; declared that God's curse would rest upon 
the incestuous marriage which had dishonored the 
court and the nation, and that the unholy war to 
which the people had been summoned could only end 
in calamity, as had all such national struggles when 
God was not the leader. His fiery words increased 
the discontent of the people, who were restive under 
the rigorous rule of Herod, and were ripe for insur- 
rection, until, at last, their murmurings swelled into 
the roar of threatening complaint and reached the 
ears of their royal master. With all his insolence and 
tyranny Antipas was a coward, and feared the people. 
Knowing their enthusiastic attachment to the eloquent 
preacher, he dared not wreak summary vengeance 
upon him. With a politic show of courteous conde- 
scension, therefore, he summoned John to his presence 
as though he were himself an inquirer for the truth, 
or was curious to hear with his own ears a specimen 
of the famous preacher's eloquence. John came, but 
it was as JN'athan came to David, or Elijah came to the 
iniquitous Ahab and Jezebel. The Baptist was no 
courtier. He was not accustomed to the soft raiment 
or the soft speech of king's houses. He was utterly 
devoid of policy, and his diplomacy consisted only of 
the most incorruptible fidelity to the riglit. He knew 
not how to frame his words to prophesy only harsh 



The Arrest. 299 

things for the unrepentant people, and smooth things 
for their hard-hearted lord. He was absolutely inca- 
pable of making the nice distinctions which even 
good men sometimes make between the sins of a 
prince and the sins of a pauper. So he spoke to 
Herod as he would have spoken to any common 
man. 

The coming of John the Baptist, the personifica- 
tion of the inflexible Mosaic law^, before Antipas, the 
typical hypocrite, time-server, and law-breaker of the 
day, was an event which must inevitably hold a con- 
spicuous place in historic records ; a scene which has 
often inspired the pencil of the painter and the pen 
of the poet; an exhibition of the absolute fearless- 
ness of innocence and integrity, even when confronted 
by unscrupulous and unlimited earthly power, that 
rises at once into the region of the sublime. Clothed 
in his desert raiment of hair-cloth, with the simple 
leathern girdle about his loins, John was in striking 
contrast to the perfumed and bejeweled courtiers 
who crowded about the throne to see and to hear 
this new wonder. But the fierce jSTazarite took no 
note of this. Fastening his eagle eye upon the in- 
cestuous Herod, with a look that made the guilty 
monarch quail as though the very sword of divine 
justice had flashed before him, he reasoned about 
righteousness, temperance, and the judgment to come, 
in words which '* fell like flakes of fire upon the 
hard and icy conscience of his royal listener.'' He 



300 John the Baptist. 

pronounced the curse of the Mosaic law upon Herod's 
unhallowed union ; and, calling upon him to dismiss 
the imperious woman who had brought disgrace to 
her royal lover and evil to the land, he reached the 
climax of his personal indignation and his faithful 
speech in those memorable words of rebuke, denun- 
ciation, and warning : " It is not lawful for thee to 
have thy brother's wife ! " Matt, xiv, 3-5 ; Luke 
iii, 19. 

John's demeanor was so bold, and his words so 
fraught w^th authority, that Herod seemed, for the 
time being, conscience-smitten and expectant. But 
so completely had he come under the control of He- 
rodias, who clung to him like an evil spirit, that it 
seemed impossible for him to master his guilty love 
and put himself right before the nation and the God 
whom he, at times at least, professed to zealously 
serve. John, however, was permitted to depart in 
peace, but probably not witliout a caution and a 
threat touching his future attitude toward the te- 
trarch, neither of which had any influence upon the 
conduct of a prophet wlio was especially commis- 
sioned to reprove sin W'herever found, and whose 
whole soul was set on obeying God rather than 
man. 

Soon after the event we have just described Anti- 
pas prepared to march against his quondam father in- 
law, the Arabian emir. But learning of John's 
increasing popularity, and the excitement of the 



The Arrest. 301 

people who rallied around him, and fearing that 
John might turn his wide influence to political ac- 
count and head some religious rising like that of 
Judas the Galilean, he dared not leave behind him 
one who seemed so likely to disturb the quiet of his 
kingdom during his absence. He held it, therefore, 
better to anticipate any attempt at revolution by im- 
prisoning him, and, if needs were, by putting him to 
death, rather than lament a disturbance after it had 
broken out. So, braving the anger of the people as 
the lesser of two evils, the tyrant sent a band of sol- 
diers to John's camp, probably at night, when the 
people were slumbering, and seizing the defenseless 
prophet they quickly marched him southward along 
the eastern side of Jordan and the Dead Sea, a dis- 
tance of from twelve to fourteen hours, to the noted 
fortress of Machaerus, which was now again under 
Herod's control, where he was imprisoned to await 
the pleasure of his royal enemy when the crisis of 
war should have passed."^ 

According to the most reliable chronology, John's 
arrest occurred in the spring of A. U. C. 780. The 
war with Aretas proved more serious than Herod had 
anticipated. The emir's army was in.spired by a 
genuine spirit of vengeance, which is a most power- 
ful motive in the breast of the hot-blooded Oriental, 
while the soldiers of Herod were alike ashamed of 
their leader and their cause, and, consequently, had 

* Josephus, Antiq., xviii, 5, 2. 



302 John the Baptist. 

little spirit or hope of success. The very first battle 
resulted in a severe and ruinous defeat for the Gali- 
leans, and Herod was only saved from utter subjuga- 
tion and dethronement by the command of the 
Roman emperor to Aretas that he should desist, and 
withdraw his troops into his own country. A mes- 
sao-e from the master of the w^orld could not be 
safely disregarded ; so Aretas, for the time being, 
called ofi the dogs of war, and the justly discomfited 
Herod was permitted to return again to his life of 
selfish luxury and the enjoyment of his unholy love. 



The Imprisonment. 303 



CHAPTEE XXIL 

THE IMPRISONMENT. 

While the war between Herod and Aretas was in 
progress John remained a prisoner at Machserus. 
The free life he had led in the wilderness and along 
the Jordan had poorly fitted him for the confine- 
ment to which he was now subjected. It was like 
caging the eagle or cliaining the lion. But he was 
great enough, and, no doubt, strong enough to control 
his impatience ; and we know not what precious les- 
sons he received from the Divine One whose com- 
mission he bore, softening and perfecting his charac- 
ter for tlie further testimony he was to bear to the 
trutli, and tlie glorious entrance he was to gain, 
through the door of martyrdom, into the rest of the 
faithful and tlie joy of the Lord. 

Dr. Geikie (quoting from Josephus, Seetzen, Tris- 
tram, et al,) gives the following description of the 
fortress of Machserus and the region around it : 

" This castle, known as ' the diadem,' from its 
crown-like seat on the lofty rocks, and as the ' black 
tower,' lay on the east side of the Dead Sea, almost 
on a line with Bethlehem. It w^as ' the southern 
stronghold of Perea, as the Macedonian colony of 



304 John the Baptist, 

Pella was the northern. Nature herself had here 
raised a stronghold, as she had that of Masada, on the 
other side of the Dead Sea, a little farther south. It 
lay above tlie deep gorge that divides the mountains 
of Abarim from the range of Pisgah, in the wild re- 
gion w^here, from immemorial tradition, the Jews 
sought the grave of Moses. A few miles to the 
north, in a deep, rugged valley, lay Callirrhoe, famous 
for its warm baths, where the dying Herod liad 
sought relief, and had nearly met his death. Its hot 
springs burst at one spot from the rocks in the bot- 
tom of the gorge, and near them others poured forth 
water of the iciest coldness ; while tlie hills around 
were in those days pierced with mines of sulphur and 
alum. The torrent of Zerka MaMn, descending be- 
tween walls of basalt, and red, brown, and black vol- 
canic tuff, rushes through the ravine, over a channel 
of huge rocks, from the uplands of Perea to the east 
shore of the Dead Sea. At a short distance south 
the Wady Z'gara runs east and west, in a profound 
gorge, with precipitous sides, at some parts eight 
hundred feet high, cleaving its wild way, by leaps, 
down three thousand eight hundred feet, to the Dead 
Sea. A parallel valley succeeds, along the hollow of 
which ran the old Roman road, joining Machaerus 
with Callirrhoe, and with the great road from Petra 
to Damascus. Rising from this ravine, the long 
mountain ridge of Attaroth stretches, in heaped-up 
confusion, ten miles to the south-west, and on the 



The Imprisonment. 305 

liigliest point of this, where it sinks sheer down to- 
ward the Zerka Ma'in, the ruins of Machserus, in 
great masses of squared stone, still overhang the pro- 
found depth below. At the foot of the isolated cliff 
on which the fortress w^as built, and separated from 
it by a deep and narrow valley, not quite a rnile 
across, lie the ruins of the town of Machaerus, cover- 
ing more than a square mile, showing in the remains 
of a Temple of the Sun that, along with the fanatical 
Jewish population, it must have had many heathen, 
that is, Greek or Roman citizens, who were allowed 
to practice their idolatry in peace. The first fortress 
had been built here by Alexander Jannseus, but it 
was afterward destroyed by Gabinius, in his war 
against Aristobulus. When Herod came to be king, 
however, his keen eye saw the strength of the posi- 
tion, and he determined to rebuild the castle as a 
frontier defense against the Arabs. Surrounding a 
large space with walls and towers, he built a city 
from which a path led up to the citadel on the top of 
the ridge. The citadel itself was at one end of a 
narrow ridge, nearly a mile in length from east to 
west, and formed a last retreat in case of attack, but 
it was not enough for his magnificent ideas. 

" At the other end of the ridge he built a great 
wall, inclosing the summit of the hill, with towers two 
hundred feet high at the corners, and in the space 
thus gained built a grand palace, with rows of col- 
umns of a single stone apiece, halls lined with many- 
19 



306 John the Baptist. 

colored marbles, magnificent batlis, and all the details 
of Roman luxury, not omitting huge cisterns, barracks, 
and storehouses, with every thing needed for de- 
fense in case of siege. The detaclied citadel was the 
scene of John's imprisonment : a stern and gloomy 
keep, with underground dungeons, still visible, 
hewn down into the living rock. The fortress-palace, 
at the other end of the fortifications, at the time of 
the residence of Antipas and his retainers, was merry 
with their revelry, but the dungeon of John lay in 
midnight darkness. From his windows Antipas had 
a magnificent view of the Dead Sea, the whole course 
of the Jordan, Jerusalem, Hebron, the frowning fort- 
ress of Masada, the circle of Jordan, and the cliffs of 
Engedi, on the west, and of the mountains of Gilead, 
rising beyond the wild heights of Pisgah, on the 
north ; but his captive, the child of the boundless 
wilderness, pined in perpetual night. 

" Beneath this stronghold, perched on the top of the 
highest summit of the wild region, the valley sank in 
unscalable precipices, on three sides, to such a depth 
that Josephus is well-nigh excused for thinking that 
the eye could not reach their bottom. The fourth 
side was only a little less terrible. Wild desolation 
reigned far and near, but the hidden hollows of some 
of the gorges were luxuriant with palms, olives, and 
vines ; and superstition believed that, among other 
wonders, there grew in them a plant, fiery red in 
color, and shedding rays of flame in the evening, 



The Imprisonment. 307 

which had power to expel demons and heal diseases, 
though only to be pulled at the cost of life. Seetzen, 
a German traveler, who rediscovered the site in 
1807, has left a vivid picture of tlie landscape around. 
Masses of lava, brown, red, and black, are varied 
with pumice-stone, or black basalt, in huge broken 
masses or perpendicular cliffs, resting on white lime- 
stone. The rushing stream beneath is overgrown 
with oleanders and date-palms, willows, poplars, and 
tall reeds, while hot sulphur springs gush from the 
clefts of the rocks, sending up a thick mist of steam. 
" In this wild, warlike place lay John, cut off from 
the world, from Israel, and from the grand work of 
national regeneration of which he was the soul — in 
the midst of a population of soldiers, barbarians, 
Arabs, Idumeans, Amorites, and Moabites, who ran 
no risk of being infected by his words. Perhaps he 
was favored beyond other prisoners by being brought 
from his underground vault, after a time, to some 
cell of the corner towers, to be near his captor. If so, 
he could look from his lonely height over the regions 
of the Dead Sea and the Jordan, where the years of 
his desert consecration and the months of his great 
work had been spent. Yet he was no mere shadow 
of the past, but still a living power. No strong hand 
had protected him ; no miracle had been vouchsafed 
by God for his deliverance, and there was no hope of 
a rescue by the people, however they might regret 
him or murmur at his fate. His prison, unapproach- 



308 John the Baptist. 

able on three sides, and reached on the fourth only 
by a bridle path, through numerous fortified gates, 
made escape impossible. Nor could he hope to have 
support from any within the castle itself, for its 
motley population of Arabs, Edomites, and Moabites 
cared nothing for the promises of Israel. The sheiks 
of the wandering tribes around went out and in, the 
troops of the garrison were reviewed and drilled, or 
lounged around the battlements, and the courtiers of 
the hanghty Herodias flashed hither and thither in 
their bravery through the town ; the hot springs of 
the valley and the bracing air of the mountain-top 
gave new tone to the nerves of the health-seekers 
frequenting them from all parts ; but the Baptist lay 
unheeded and helpless. Apart from political reasons, 
it was so healthy a place that Antipas might well be 
fond of it. Josephus says that provisions remained 
good for a hundred years in the fortress of Masada, 
on the other side of the Dead Sea, for the air, at the 
great height of the castle, is purified from every 
earthly or hurtful exhalation. Yet there w^as no 
great bustle, for the place was too out of the way for 
much intercourse with it. Ten thousand people 
lived in the town below, but round John were only 
rough soldiery, drafted from the neighboring tribes, 
and the attendants on Herod, of whom Jesus speaks 
as ' the people gorgeously aj)pareled, who lived deli- 
cately,' as become those in the courts of kings. Yet 
the nation, with unbroken faith, kept watch outside 



The Imprisonment. 309 

the gates of the prison, and the breatli of God still 
moved among them like the soft winds through the 
leaves of summer."'^ 

Matthew, particularly, tells us that Herod desired 
to put John to death, but was restrained, for a time 
at least, because he feared the people, who counted 
John as a prophet, would rise in rebellion against 
his authority. Matt, xiv, 5. A like dread afterward 
prompted the rulers of the Jews to permit Jesus 
himself to come and go unmolested, although their 
hearts were set on ultimate vengeance against the 
man who dare denounce their hypocrisy to their 
faces. 

In the meantime John's sufferings were keen and 
constant, for an eastern dungeon, especially in those 
days, was an unmitigated horror. Christ's words 
concerning John's treatment by his enemies (Matt, 
xvii, 12), ^' They did to him whatsoever they pleased," 
are sadly significant, and more than hint at insult, 
neglect, and even capricious torture. The opportu- 
nity to avenge themselves for John's plain speech 
and unsparing condemnation of their wicked ways 
was too favorable to be lost by Herod's courtiers. 
Mark adds still further to our knowledge of Herod's 
motives by showing that it was Herodias who con- 
stantly urged the tetrarch to put John to death, while 
his high esteem for the prophet's character as con- 
stantly prompted him to spare his life. Mark vi, 19, 20. 

* Life of Christ, vol. i, pp. 417-420. 



310 John the Baptist. 

After liis war with Aretas, Antipas seems to have 
spent considerable time with his court at Machaerus, 
where, like Felix, who so often listened to the rea- 
sonings of the prisoner Paul, he frequently com- 
manded John to be brought into his presence, some- 
times, no doubt, for the amusement of the crowd at 
his table, but oftener that he might listen to the 
preaclier's eloquent declarations and arguments touch- 
ing the kingdom of heaven. He knew John was a 
righteous man, and with all his arrogant pride he 
had occasional spasms of religious feeling, and as a 
Jew was for the time being interested in the relig- 
ious ideas which had sprung up with the preaching 
of John, and were producing such an excitement, 
not only in his own dominions, but throughout those 
of his royal neighbors. Perhaps Herod wished to 
know what he must do to secure an interest in w^hat 
tlie people regarded as the approaching political 
kingdom of God, in whicli Jewish influence and 
power should once more predominate. But what- 
ever may have been the tetrarch's motive, or the 
hope of amusement on the part of Herodias and the 
throng of profligate courtiers, as often as Jolm was 
led through those gorgeous halls, pale and wasted by 
long confinement and disappointed expectation, he 
hurled a shaft directly at the tyrant's conscience, 
and brought terror to the hearts of his favorites, by 
denouncing the great sin which was crying against 
them to heaven in the words — more and more terrible 



The Imprisonment*. 311 

coming from such a man in sucli a place : " It is 
not lawful for thee to have thj brother's wife." 
It was the old struggle between the kingdom of 
(Tod and the kingdom of Satan, and God's ap- 
pointed champion never lacked in either skill, pa- 
tience, or courage. Again and again was he re- 
manded to his dungeon, each time expecting tliat the 
command for his execution would soon follow hin^ 
but never once did his great soul tremble, never 
once did he fail of that serene peace which came 
from a consciousness of the divine companionship 
and favor. 

Jesus, wlio was working miracles here and there, 
seemed to have forgotten his herald, but John's faith 
in the new King and his kingdom never wavered. 
The truth was marching on. God's purposes were 
fast being accomplished, and, thougli a prisoner ami 
inactive, he was content. With all his faults, Herod 
knew how to distinguisli and value manliness of 
head and heart ; a man with clear sense enough to 
see the truth, thongh he was too irresolute to fol- 
low it. He knew well enough that John's way 
was the best and the safest in the end, but it was in 
conflict witli his own selfish will, and he would not 
yield. Therefore, while Herod at times actually 
feared this just man and at other times heard him 
gladly, and conversed with him, and did many things 
under the influence of his fervent exhortations and 
councils, there was one thing he would not do. He 



312 John the Baptist. 

stubbornly refused to repent of liis sin and put away 
the partner of his unchaste love. Hence every con- 
ference ended, as it inevitably must, with the voice 
of God's fearless, unrelenting messenger sounding 
in the ears of the flushed and angry ruler: "It is 
not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." 
Mark vi, 18. 



John's Messengers to Jesus. 313 



CHAPTEE XXIIL 

JOHN'S MESSENGERS TO JESUS. 

Although Jolm was a prisoner his ministry had 
by no means ended. Besides his repeated testimony 
to the truth before Herod and his court he evidently 
had a more or less constant access to certain of his 
followers who lent more willing ears to his instruc- 
tions. He even had considerable communication, 
through his trusty messengers, with the outside 
world. Matt, ix, 14; xi, 2; xiv, 12. It seems 
probable that, like Paul at Cesarea, he was at times 
allowed a certain degree of liberty, and his friends 
were permitted to minister to his wants. After his 
imprisonment his disciples still clung together, and 
some of them continued to preach a coming king- 
dom ; but, lacking the inspiration and corrective in- 
fluence of their master's presence, they made too 
much of externals, and therefore missed the higher 
spiritual life into which he would have led them. 
They even rivaled the Pharisees in their washings 
and fastings, were known as the most rigid ascetics 
in their habits and observances, and went about Avith 
heavy hearts and sad countenances because tlieir 
loved teacher had been taken from them. Matt. 
ix, 14, 15. By degrees the crowd drew away from 



314 John the Baptist. 

tliem and sought a more winsome gospel witli the 
vast congregation wliicli listened to the words and 
witnessed the miracles of Jesus. But those disciples 
who had been the most strongly attached to John did 
not join themselves to the new teacher, although they 
had some communication with him, and, indirectly 
at least, made bold to criticise the cheerful and social 
manner of life which he encouraged in his disciples. 
They evidently regarded the mission of John's 
kinsman as still, in some sense, auxiliary to their 
own. 

These disciples frequently visited John at Machse- 
rus, and brought him news as to what was going on 
at Jerusalem and elsewhere ; for those were exciting 
times, and they found in their master an eager lis- 
tener. Particularly was he interested in what they 
told him of Jesus's marvelous w^orks and growling 
popularity, and his preaching of the kingdom, which 
had begun in Galilee. John and his disciples were 
Jews, and the teachings of Jesus must have seemed 
to them, at least to some extent, of doubtful tendency. 
Jesus and his disciples did not fast ; they ignored 
many of the observances practiced by strict Jews, 
and they constantly objected to the accepted interpre- 
tation of the law and the prophets, while they as 
constantly arrayed themselves against some of the 
most cherished customs and prejudices of the people. 
John's disciples, if not also their master, must have 
shared more or less in the general belief that, while 



John's Mp:ssengers to Jesus. 315 

the Messiah's kingdom was to be pure and holy, it 
was to be built up on the foundation of an earthly 
dominion. Among its chief characteristics were to 
be the political supremacy of Israel, with the over- 
throw of all oppressors and rivals ; and probably John 
had persuaded himself that his royal Master, coming 
speedily into his kingdom, would bring about the in- 
stant release of his faithful and uncomplaining herald. 
Yet, so far as Jesus was concerned, there was ap- 
parently no preparation for such a Jewish triumph. 
He had not even assumed openly the office of Mes- 
siah, nor given the faintest intimation that he pro- 
posed to set up a purified theocracy. The kingdom 
of God had really come, but John and his disciples 
seemed to have failed to quite an extent in their 
comprehension of it. The King was characterized 
by no ascetic rigor ; he dealt sparingly in denuncia- 
tions of iniquity ; he was shockingly liberal upon all 
social and religious subjects, and made sad havoc 
among the settled notions of men. He proclaimed 
a gentle Gospel, a Gospel of love and mercy, and 
seemed to make little distinction, so far at least as his 
ministry was concerned, between strict and apostate 
Jews, or even between Jews and Gentiles. He re- 
ceived sinners into his presence — seemed at times to 
actually prefer their company — and frequently sat down 
to eat with them. He sometimes showed marked favor 
to certain of the hated Eomans, as in the case of the 
centurion at Capernaum (Matt, viii, 5-10), and more 



316 John the Baptist. 

than once had preferred the company and grateful 
love of veritable outcasts to the society and approval 
of the most learned doctors and teachers of the law. 
He had so far forgotten his dignity and his national- 
ity as to teach for two days a crowd of unclean and 
outlawed Samaritans at the well and in the market- 
places of their chief city. John iv. He had accepted 
many an invitation to dine and lodge with publicans, 
and at last had called one of that despised class of 
renegade Jews to be an apostle. Matt, ix, 9-13. 

To us, studying the life and character of Jesus of 
Nazareth from our distant and more elevated stand- 
point, all these things are among the clear proofs of 
his Messiahship, but to the imprisoned John and his 
disciples they were far otherwise. To these men, 
who still clung to the creed and practices, and many 
of the prejudices as well, of their nation, and ex- 
pected the Messiah's kingdom to be a Jewish king- 
dom, in harmony with Jewish law and custom — a 
temporal as well as a spiritual kingdom— tliere were 
very many things about the new ministry in Galilee 
that were grievous stumbling-blocks to their faith. 

Besides these strange things that were done there 
were many expected things that were not done. 
Herod still sat secure and triumphant upon his throne. 
Rome was as powerful and tyrannical as ever. An 
inlidel Sadducee stiil profaned the sacred ofiice of 
high-priest. The Pharisees daily grew more haughty 
and insolent. There were no signs of decreasing vi- 



John's Messengers to Jesus. 317 

tality or power in the kingdom of tliis world, and, 
what was more disappointing, there were but few 
evidences that tlie kingdom of heaven was growing 
either in extent or influence. Even the King whom 
John had introduced to tlie nation made no effort to 
possess his crown, contenting himself with preaching 
to a miscellaneous crowd of followers the kingdom 
which, if indeed the Messiah, he ought to at once 
establish. 

The situation was, indeed, very disappointing, and 
as the months followed each other until a whole year 
had passed it is no wonder if John grew anxious and 
at times impatient. The Baptist at Machgerus at 
once reminds us of Elijah in the wilderness when he 
lay down beneath the juniper-tree, and at Horeb, 
when, in the solitude of the cave, he poured into the 
listening ear of Jehovah his complaint. John and 
his prototype were alike unable to fall in with the 
divine arrangement of events. Both were over- 
whelmed by the burden of a terrible though glorious 
mission. 

There is no evidence that John actually doubted 
either that the kingdom was near or that his cousin 
was its anointed Founder and King. But, unques- 
tionably, he was at times justly and sorely perplexed, 
since every thing was so contrary to his expectations 
and his own situation was so depressing, if not 
hopeless. 

" A child of the desert, accustomed to its wild free- 



318 John the Baptist. 

dom, he was now caged in a dismal fortress, with no 
outlook except black lava-crags and deep gorges yawn- 
ing in seemingly bottomless depths. Burning with 
zeal, he found himself set aside as if forgotten of 
God, or of no use in his kingdom. Even the people 
seem to have forgotten him. His work seems to have 
been without results — a momentary excitement wliicli 
liad already died away. He could not hope for visits 
from Jesus, which could only have given a second 
prisoner to Machserus — ' the Black Castle.' The re- 
action from the sense of boundless liberty in the 
desert to the forced inaction and close walls of a 
prison, and from the stir and enthusiasm of the great 
assemblies at the fords of the Jordan, affected even 
the strong and firm soul of the hero, as similar influ- 
ences have affected even the bravest hearts since his 
day. Moses and Elijah had had their times of pro- 
found despondency, and it was no wonder that a 
passing cloud threw its shadow even over the 
Baptist." ^ 

It would not be just for us to suppose for an in- 
stant that John's interest in Jesus and his work had 
begun to subside, and he had withdrawn himself into 
a narrow life of mere selfish sorrow. No, he was too 
great a man, too true a man, for that. In the course 
he now adopted he only sought to have the things he 
did not understand explained by the only one who 
could explain them ; one in whom he had the fullest 
* Geikie's Life of Ohrist, vol. ii, p. 114. 



John's Messengers to Jesus. 319 

confidence, and whose answer would be accepted as 
the final and satisfactory word. "The doubts in 
John's mind were not such as tended in the slightest 
degree to invalidate his previous testimonies to Jesus, 
or the evidence on which they rested. John's mis- 
givings were not in their nature skeptical^ but cmx- 
ioiis. He doubted not the divinity of Jesus, but 
queried what was to be his future course. Like 
others, he expected a more rapid development of the 
Messiah's kingship ; and as Jesus seemed to be per- 
manently a peaceful prophet, he questioned whether 
a different royal Messiah was not yet to appear. The 
very fact that he sent to Jesus himself for relief, as 
the fountain and oracle of truth, shows that he still 
acknowledged him as one the latchet of whose shoes 
he was unworthy to unloose." ^ Struggling with the 
powei'S of evil himself, he wanted to know from the 
commander of Jehovah's army how the battle was 
going in the world without ; a prisoner and in bonds, 
he was anxious to learn if there was any hope for the 
millions of his countrymen who were not only cap- 
tives to Rome, but bound by the stronger and more 
galling chains of bigotry and sin. He wanted to 
know if " the acceptable year of the Lord " had not 
now at last come, w^hen liberty should be proclaimed 
by one whose word was law and whose power was ir- 
resistible. His own burdens he would bear with un- 
complaining fortitude, but how about the grievous 

* Whedon on Matt, xi, 2. 



320 John the Baptist. 

and multiplied burdens borne by his countrymen, 
whose true welfare was dearer to him than even per- 
sonal ease, or life itself ? 

Alongside of his own perplexities were the skepti- 
cisms of his disciples, who daily poured their doubts 
of Jesus's Messiahship into his ear, and insisted upon 
his either clearing them away or admitting their va- 
lidity. At last, to satisfy himself and them, he chose 
two of his most trusty disciples, and sent them to 
Galilee, with instructions to ask Jesus this one simple 
question : " Art thou he that should come, or do 
we look for another ? " believing that in the answer 
to the query they would be fully instructed as to the 
character of Jesus from his own authoritative lips. 
Matt, xi, 2-6. It is probable that Dr. Whedon is 
right when he says : " The import of John's message 
was : ' I acknowledge thee as profoundly as ever as 
the Son of God, the way, the truth, and the life, 
whose unworthy harbinger and messenger I am. But 
thy present acts and words indicate that thou art to 
be a teacher and worker of miracles. Art thou also 
the predicted King of the glorious divine reign about 
to come in, or must we wait for anotlier ? ' John, then, 
did not retract or doubt the past ; he only queried 
the future. He seems to be running into the same 
train of reasoning as that which induced the later 
Jews to adopt the theory of the two Messiahs, one of 
whom (called by them the Son of Josepli, should ful- 
fill the humiliations described by the prophets as be- 



John's Messengers to Jesus. 321 

longing to tlie Messiah; and the other (whom they 
called the Son of David) should fulfill the glorious 
part of the prophecies. I do not mean that John 
adopted or was acquainted with this Jewish theory * 
but that the same idea (namely, the contrast lying 
between the humble, suffering Messiah and the glo- 
rious Messiah, Prince of the kingdom of God) which 
prompted that theory prompted his question." In 
formulating his question John undoubtedly had ref- 
erence to the passage in Malachi, '' Jehovah, whom 
ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple" (Mai. iii, 1), 
thereby more than intimating that the slowmess of 
Jesus to assert his rightful authority did not seem, at 
least, to agree with the well-known prediction. 

The two disciples found Jesus at the height of his 
prosperity ; in most striking contrast with the desolate 
plight of their Master, who was as one cast aside and 
forgotten by the fickle multitude. Their faithful 
hearts were made still heavier, and unquestionably 
their doubts were increased by what they at first saw ; 
but they promptly delivered to Jesus the message 
with which they had been intrusted. Jesus gave 
them no direct reply. He did not say, ''I am the 
Messiah." He manifested a reserve which seemed to 
blend the elements of truest modesty and firmest 
self-respect. He referred them to the promise of the 
ancient prophet as to the works of the Messiah : 
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the 
ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the 

20 



322 John the Baptist. 

lame man leap as a hart, aud the tongue of the dumb 
sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, 
and streams in the desert." Isa. xxxv, 5, 6. He then 
bade them take their places with his own disciples for 
a time, and note the fulfillment of the prediction. 

Jesus had the highest respect for John, and rightly 
estimated his character and work, as is shown by the 
remarkable testimony which he afterward gave ; but in 
this instance he treated John and his disciples as he 
would any other sincere questioners. From the very 
first he had endeavored to impress npon his disciples 
that his kingdom w^as to be a kingdom of equality, in 
which there was to be no favoritism, and he now took 
occasion to still further emphasize that fact by offer- 
ing to these representatives of one of the greatest of 
men only the same evidences of his Messiahship which 
were given to the humblest Gentile who mingled 
with the expectant thi'ong. But these evidences were 
enough to verify the sacred predictions, and John 
would have no difficulty in forming therefrom a cor- 
rect and clear judgment as to the character and 
mission of Jesus. 

Conspicuous among the followers of Christ there 
were always many who hoped that he would have 
pity upon them and heal their diseases. These he 
now summoned to his presence, and, having rebuked 
their infirmities, sent them away grateful and believ- 
ing. He then said to the messengers, " Go' and show 
John again those things which ye do hear and see : 



John's Messengers to Jesus. 323 

• 

the blind receive their sight, aud the lame walk, 
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead 
are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached 
to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be 
offended in me." Matt, xi, 4-6. 

The crowning part of this testimony was the fact 
that the Gospel was preached to the poor, and spe- 
cial sympathy shown with the broken-hearted and 
oppressed. Nothing could more effectually touch the 
heart of John than this sublime reference to the 
words of the great Isaiah, who had, throughout his 
writings, so completely foreshadowed the Gospel. 
Isa. Ixi, 1, 2. " Go and tell John these things," said 
Jesus. '' Tell him, moi*eover, that I know how he is 
tempted; but let him comfort himself with the 
thought that he who holds fast his faith in spite of 
all fiery trials, and does not reject the kingdom of 
God because of its small beginnings and still, spirit- 
ual gentleness, so different from the worldly power 
and glory expected, already has the blessings it is 
sent to brino;." ^ 

In all this Jesus showed the most profound knowl- 
edge of John's character, and, while he maintained 
fully his own self-respect he gave John the most com- 
plete proof that he had made no mistake in announc- 
ing him as the Messiah. " It was not in his intellect- 
ual discernment, but through his feelings, that John 
erred in regard to Jesus: he was 'offended' where, 

* Ewald, V, 431. 



324 John the Baptist. 

ill analogous circumstances, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, 
Mary, and Peter stumbled. With divine gentleness 
Jesus corrected his mistake ; and this correction served 
at the same time as his vindication before the peo- 
ple."*^ From what we know of the character of 
Jesus, and especially his tender sympathy with all 
w^ho w^ere distressed, we may w^ell suppose that, while 
his public answer to John was brief, he did not suffer 
the messengers to depart without many private words 
of love and encouragement for their master ; words 
which, while they held out no hope of liberty, or 
even long-continued life, had still a divine power to 
strengthen the courage and perfect the patience of 
the prisoner, thus fitting him for the supreme trial he 
was so soon to meet. What was the precise effect of 
Christ's testimony, in public answer to the messen- 
gers, upon the mind of John we are not told. Death 
soon came to cut short all his perplexities, and to re- 
lieve him of all responsibility. " The untamable free- 
dom of the recluse w^as to crown its restless and per- 
secuted career by the only end that was worthy 
ofit."t 

* Dr. Lange. f Kenan's Life of Jesus^ 1 89. 



Christ's Eulogy of John. 325 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CHRIST'S EULOGY OF JOHK 

ScAKCELY had the messengers departed when, tak- 
ing John for a text, Jesus's full heart broke forth into 
a most tender, loftj, and fervent eulogy upon his per- 
secuted forerunner. From what they had just heard, 
the people were in some danger of misunderstanding 
John's character, and Jesus hastened to set them 
right. 

Repeatedly had the Baptist borne public testi- 
mony to Jesus, and now, for the first time, at least at 
any length, Jesus gave expression to his mature esti- 
mate of the gifted preacher and his work, in words 
which, if long delayed, evidenced such tender sympa- 
thy, keen analysis, and authoritative declaration con- 
cerning the greatness of the man and his mission that 
if their import ever reached the ears of John he must 
have felt more than compensated for all his disap- 
pointment and sufEering. 

Our Lord rarely gave his opinion of an individual ; 
dealing rather in those great principles which under- 
lie all true character, or denouncing the evils which 
tend to destroy utterly God's image in man. But 
here (Matt, xi, 7-19), with a glad frankness and full- 
ness, he gave us heaven's appraisement of a great 



326 John the Baptist. 

life, at the same time skillfully using that life as a 
reproof to his hearers for their false standards of 
character. 

As if he had said, What went ye out into the 
wilderness to see? A man of vacillating purpose 
and timid soul, like the reeds which line the banks of 
the Jordan and bend before every breeze that passes 
by ; a fickle, changeful man, swayed by the breath of 
self-interest ; the sport of any and every outward in- 
fluence ? Such is not John's true character. He is, 
rather, like the rock upon which his gloomy prison is 
founded, forever fixed in his fidelity to the truth and 
the souls of men, fearing none but God. When you 
flocked to John's ministry did you expect to see a 
man clothed in soft raiment, as though the long- 
looked-for light and deliverance would come to Israel 
through the agency of the luxurious and pleasure- 
loving? I tell you such men are appropriately found 
in king's palaces; they love ease, and sumptuous liv- 
ing, and the favor of their rulers too well to ever 
task themselves for the good of the people. No ; you 
sought a man whose very simplicity of dress and 
ruggedness of life and manner proved his self-forget- 
ful devotion to your highest interests. A man who 
with keen speech and irresistible earnestness, but with 
a loving and a true heart, showed you the only way 
to God's kingdom. You went out to find one im- 
measurably wdser and better than any courtier that 
ever fawned at the feet of royalty. You went out 



Christ's Eulogy of John. 327 

to see a prophet of God; yea, and more than a 
prophet ! 

Though the last of the grand brotherhood of fore- 
tellers, he is tlie greatest of them all : the only one 
whose career and office were themselves the subject 
of prophecy. Was not an angel commissioned to an- 
nounce his birth ? 

Did not Malachi foretell his advent and office 
when he said, " Behold, I will send my messengei', 
and he shall prepare the way before me : and the 
Lord, whom je seek, shall suddenly come to his tem- 
ple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye 
delight in : behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of 
hosts?" Mai. iii, 1. John is more than a prophet; 
more than a man of visions. He is a divinely accred- 
ited messenger to go before the Messiah's face ; per- 
forming the duties of an office which elevates him to 
a height above that reached by Elijah, or Isaiah, or 
Samuel, or even the mighty lawgiver himself. He 
is a burning and a shining light, which has flashed 
once more across the hills of Judea, the radiance of 
the prophetic glory and testimony. John v, 33-35. 
But he is more than a prophet. He has stood out in 
the realities of life. He has battled with all powers 
that oppose the new kingdom. He has come in con- 
tact with living issues ; he lias taken up daily and 
dangerous duties; he has marshaled the hosts for 
the beginning of the great strife now raging ; he has 
been a man among men, filled with an enthusiastic 



328 John the Baptist. 

love for liuuianity ; and all tins is nobler, grander 
than mere proplietic vision. In tlie full scope of his 
life, his divine call, his conscientious preparation, his 
self -forgetful spirit, his skill in delivering his mes- 
sage, his absolute fidelity to the truth, his persecution 
and probable martyrdom for righteousness' sake, he 
is the greatest among all that are born of woman. 
But let there be no mistake in this matter. John, 
with all his prestige as the last and best of the old dis- 
pensation, can never bring in that kingdom which, as 
Jehovah's messenger, he has so worthily and success- 
fully announced. That is not a physical but a spirit- 
ual kingdom. It is set up in the heart. It cometh 
not with outward observation or show (Luke 
xvii, 20); it is Grod's pure empire within the soul. 
Therefore he that is comparatively less in the king- 
dom of heaven, according to its unerring standard, or 
who occupies a lower place in it, is greater than 
John, in respect of the development of his faith and 
spiritual life ; as a member of the Church founded 
by Christ the Eedeemerp as a truly enlightened Chris- 
tian, he is, necessarily, greater than the greatest 
proj)het of the old and external dispensation."^ He 
is superior in spiritual privileges. He knows more 
because more has been revealed to him. He has a 
larger hope. He has a closer and more conscious re- 
lationship to God, whom he has come to recognize as 
his Father. Into this kingdom, which is now among 
* For an elaboration of this point see Lange on Matt, xi, 11. 



Christ's Eulogy of John. 329 

you, you all may press witli holy and happy violence. 
Such vehement perseverance as has characterized 
John the forerunner, a perseverance ever natural to 
those who hunger and thirst after rigliteousness, will 
always be acceptable in the King's sight. "^ 

In this comprehensive and appreciative manner 
Jesus set the Baptist before the world in the sublime 
attitude which he must forever maintain ; adding 
this explicit and important testimony, '' And if ye 
will receive it, this is Elias, wdiich was for to come." 
To the Jews who listened to this remarkable eulogy 
of John, many of wdiom had been baptized by the 
prophet, and who believed in him heartily and loved 
him sincerely, this last declaration was the highest 
honor that had yet been bestowed upon the Baptist, 
for to them Elijah was the very greatest of all the 
prophets. Says Jesus, son of Sirach of Jerusalem : 

"And Elias rose up a prophet like fire, 
And his word burnt like a torch ; 
Who brought a famine upon them, 
And by his zeal he diminished their number. 
By the word of the Lord he shut up heaven, 
And so three times brought down fire. 

Elias, how wast thou made glorious in thy wondrous deeds ! 
And who is like thee that he may glory ! 
Who didst raise np a dead man from death, 
And from Hades, by the word of the Most High ; 
Who broughtest kings down to destruction, 
And honorable men from their bed ; 
Who heardest the rebuke on Sinai, 
* Matt, xi, 7-19. 



330 John the Baptist. 

And on Horeb the sentence of punishment; 

Who aiiointedst kings for retribution, 

And prophets as his successors ; 

Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of fire, 

In a chariot with fierj^ horses ; 

Who wast written of in reproofs for special times, 

To pacify wrath before its outbreak, 

To turn the heart of the father to the son, 

And to restore the tribes of Jacob. 

Blessed are they tliat see thee, and are adorned with love ; 

For we also shall surely be alive." * 

On that part of the eulogy which refers to John's 
rank among the prophets, and his relation to the 
kingdom of heaven, Neander wisely says : "In regard 
to the relation of the old dispensation in general to 
Christianity, the fact that Christ places the Baptist 
above the prophets, who were the very culminating 
point of the old covenant, and yet so far below the 
members of the new development of the kingdom, 
exhibits in the most striking way possible his view 
of tlie distance between the old preparatory Testament 
and the 'New. The authority of Christ himself, 
therefore, is contradicted by those who expect to iind 
the truth revealed by hi7)i already developed in the 
Old Testament. If in t/ohn we are to distinguish the 
fundamental truth which he held, and which pointed 
to the New Testament, from the limited and sensuous 
form in w^hich he held it, much more, according to 
Christ's words, are we bound to do this in the 
Old Testament generally, and in its Messiunic ele- 

* Ecclus. xlviii, l-ll, Lange's Edition. 



CHRisrs Eulogy of John. 3»31 

ments especially. Following this intimation, we 
must, in studying the prophets, discriminate the his- 
torical from the ideal sense, the conscious from the 
unconscious prophecies. The testimony which Christ 
added in regard to the effects of John's labors corre- 
sponds precisely with the above view of his stand- 
point." ^ 

Jesus had long ere this perceived that while some 
w^ho attended upon his ministry accepted him and 
his words with gratitude and joy, there were many 
among the learned teachers of the law who, with 
their especial follow^ers, were always critical and 
captious, and sometimes even contemptuous. Struck 
with these contrasts, he now proceeds to point out 
the childish inconsistency of the fault-finders. He 
more than intimated that nothing could please such 
arrogant, self-opinionated, sour natures. They had 
already been addressed by two different messengers, 
one declaring that the kingdom of heaven was com- 
ing, and the other as explicitly stating that the 
kingdom of heaven had come, and yet they had re- 
fused to listen to either. They professed great rever- 
ence for the law, and yet when its utmost rigor came 
to them in the preaching of John the Baptist they 
were angry, and secretly stirred up Herod to put him 
out of the way. On the other hand, Jesus had come 
proclaiming the new Gospel, the glad evangel of 
gentleness and love, and again they were angry, and 

* Life of Christ, 215. 



332 John the Baptist. 

in scornful tones queried if any possible wisdom or 
good could come out of JNTazareth. Even the mighty 
works which he did, especially in their chief cities 
(Matt, xi, 20-24), only furnished occasion for a more 
supercilious criticism. 

They were determined not to be satisfied. In both 
cases they justified their meanness by picking out 
some trait of character, some act or word, and, with 
the most stubborn persistence, either misunderstand- 
ing or misrepresenting it, they turned it into a matter 
of complaint or fierce accusation. They were so 
unreasonable that it would be a waste of time and 
efiort to attempt any further to conciliate them. 
They had actually made themselves ridiculous by 
their unmanly quibbling, and could be likened to 
nothing so aptly as to little children playing at wed- 
dings or at funerals in the market-places, some of 
whom, in their whimsical naughtiness, insisted upon 
being dissatisfied and making themselves disagreeable, 
whether the amusement were the joyous music of 
the flute and pipe, to tempt their nimble feet to dance, 
or the long, doleful wail of the simulated house of 
mourning. Like these pouting youngsters, the 
grumbling scribes and Pharisees w^ould neither dance 
nor lament. They would respond to neither John 
nor Jesus. John had come to them in the coarse 
dress and stern asceticism of a hermit, with the fiery 
eloquence of a born orator, and with all the zeal and 
perseverance of a man absorbed in one great idea ; 



Christ's Eulogy of John. 333 

but they turned away to call liirn mad — a crack- 
brained fanatic. Jesus came to them as a man in 
the world, though not exactly of it. He was gentle, 
courteous, refined. They met him at the banquet 
and at the marriage feast. He gladdened many a 
home with his cheerful presence, and accepted the 
grateful hospitality of all classes of men. He tried 
to show them just how a Christian should live. But 
again these implacable cavilers turned away to say, 
'' Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a 
friend of publicans and sinners." 

Jesus sententiously concluded his discourse, so far 
as it had any reference to John, in the words, " But 
Wisdom is justified of her children." As much as 
to say, " These carping ' children ' from among the 
learned and great of the nation, may assail and ridi- 
cule and denounce the Gospel in whatever form it 
comes to them, if they will, but there are other 
' children ' who, by accepting the Gospel — w^hich is 
the wisdom of God (1 Cor. ii, 7) — -have become the 
veritable children of Wisdom : they, in heart and in 
life, shall fully vindicate, against all unfriendly strict- 
ures, the ever-blessed kingdom of righteousness. Such 
^children' will never disgrace me or my mission. 
Blind-minded and hard-hearted men may account 
their life as a fool's life, and their end as dishonora- 
ble ; but tlie very humblest of them shall, finally, be 
numbered among the children of God, and have their 
eternal portion w^ith the saints." Matt, xi, 25. 



334 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE BIRTHDAY FEAST. 

John the Baptist belonged to a transition period. 
He was a son of the old covenant. As Moses over- 
looked the promised land, but could not enter it, so 
John's eyes were gladdened by the dawn of the new 
dispensation in the full glory of which he was not 
permitted to participate. His life seems to have been 
more a protest than a victory. He was a martyr, but 
lie died as Hugh Latimer died when he cried out to 
his companion, while they were burning at the stake, 
'^ Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the 
man ; w^e shall this day light such a candle by God's 
grace in England as shall never be put out." Men may 
say that John w^as an unsuccessful reformer, and yet 
he prepared the way for the greatest and most lasting 
reformation the world has ever known. He plowed 
and sowed for others to reap. He was set to no easy 
task. It required courage, faith, and strength of 
character such as few men have shown to the world. 
His trials were constant, severe, and peculiar, until, 
at last, he was called to suffer an untimely and violent 
death to gratify the vengeance of a wicked and worth- 
less woman. But w^e have no evidence that his loyal 



The Birthday Feast. 335 

soul wavered, even for a moment, in its purpose. 
After the baptism and public testimony to the char- 
acter of Jesus, his career was one unbroken series of 
disappointments, and no doubt he was often sorely 
perplexed ; but we cannot say that a single murmur 
ever escaped his lips. For one so aggressive and fiery 
in temperament, it was no easy thing to patiently 
submit to what seemed a humiliating defeat ; but his 
was the spirit of a true prophet, and he was only 
anxious to know that at every step his own soul was 
in accord w4th God's purpose and methods. The 
contrast between the green banks of the Jordan, with 
the multitude swayed by his eloquence or crowding 
to his baptism, and the gloomy dungeon of Machge- 
rus, was striking indeed ; but at no period of liis 
career w^as the declaration of Christ that he was one 
of the greatest men of that or any other age so justlj^ 
applicable as in the closing scenes of his life. 

The somewhat lenient treatment which Herod had 
at first accorded to his prisoner could not, in the very 
nature of the case, long continue. The prophet was 
often summoned to the monarch's presence, and as 
often he bore his relentless testimony against the te- 
trarch's heaven-defying sin in the unvarying words, 
" It is not lawful for thee to Iiave thy brother's wife." 
Matt, xiv, 4 ; Mark vi, 18, 20 ; Luke iii, 19.-^ Herod 
could not fail to recognize the voice of God sounding 
in his ears. He was not entirely bereft of manhood, 
and his debauched nature was compelled to render a 



336 John the Baptist. 

sort of homage to truth and even-handed justice as 
personiiied in his defenseless captive. It was to a 
great extent, however, the homage of fear ; a guilty 
fear which afterward made him tremble at the report 
of Jesus's miracles, in the belief that it was John 
risen from the grave, and recommissioned with super- 
natural power to confirm and strengthen the good and 
condemn and torment the wicked before their time. 
Luke ix, 7; Matt, xiv, 1, 2. '' Herod, though in his 
palace surrounded with his royal guards, feared him. 
He knew the Baptist was stronger than he, for truth 
is mighty, and mightily prevaileth ; and being already 
conscious of his offendings, and having enough to do 
to keep down the voices of crime and transgression 
within him, he feared this righteous man, whose 
words gave such edge to his self-accusations, such 
point to his remorse. Unarmed, the Baptist daunted 
him more than an army of men, an embattled city, 
or a fenced tower, or any other source of ph)^sical 
and outward force. It reminds me of the saying of 
the first James, when Knox's daughter came to peti- 
tion for her husband Welsh's pardon. The monarch 
asked her who she was ; she replied, ' The daughter 
of John Knox.' 'Knox and Welsh,' said he, 'that 
is a fearful conjunction of bloods. And had your 
father any sons ? ' ' No, only three daughters.' 
' Had his three daughters been three sons,' said the 
conscience - stricken monarch, ^I would ill have 
brinked' (enjoyed) 'my three kingdoms in peace. 



The Birthday Feast. 337 

He may return if he will consent never to preach 
again.' ' Sooner than he should consent to that,' said 
the godly and heroic woman, ' I would kep ' (catch as 
it fell from the block) ' his bloody head here,' 
stretching out the matronal apron in which she was 
attired." ^ 

Herodias regarded John, prisoner though he w^as, 
as a stubborn disturber of her peace. While he 
lived she could never feel quite secure in the position 
to gain which she had outraged conscience and defied 
public opinion. His influence constantly jeopardized 
her crown if not her life, for she knew that the 
tetrarch's conscience sorely troubled him at times, 
especially when aroused and strengthened by the 
Baptist's plain speech, and that in some fit of ungov- 
ernable repentance he might cast her off to a life of 
disappointment and shame. It is not difficult for us 
to imagine with what venomous hatred the hauglity 
granddaughter of Herod the Great must have re- 
garded the man who, to her, was an upstart marplot, 
cunningly working upon the superstition and credul- 
ity of her vacillating lord. Bent on vengeance, she 
only waited a favorable opportunity to strike a blow 
which would effectually rid her of the tormentor and 
at the same time render her own position more secure. 
In the meantime, however, Antipas stood between 
her and the prisoner. It was no mean tribute to the 
greatness of John that, by the loftiness of his char- 

* Irving's Works, iii, 150. 
21 



338 John the Baptist. 

acter and bis just popularity among the people, he 
was able to restrain even this crowned knave from 
fatal violence, and to awaken occasional flashes of 
good desire or worthy purpose in his craven souL 
But Herod was a most capricious tyrant, brooking no 
interference with the exercise of his despotic power, 
especially in this wild and border district, where the 
life of a man who had no armed following was reck- 
oned as of little worth ; hence, in the nature of the 
case, John's safety could not long continue, and the 
Jezebel who thirsted for his blood was likely at any 
time to gain her end through a sudden fit of anger 
on the part of her royal paramour, or by her own 
consummate craftiness. Salome, the daughter of 
Herodias, was as dissolute and ambitious as lier 
mother, fully participating in her feeling and heartily 
entering into her wicked plans ; so, at last, what they 
had failed to gain by direct and passionate influence 
their combined ingenuity enabled them to compass by 
subtle and characteristic fraud. 

In imitation of the Roman emperors, the Herodian 
princes were accustomed to spend vast sums of money 
in sumptuous banquets and anniversary festivities. 
Antipas entered upon his reign about the year 4 B. C, 
and had the good fortune to hold his throne for over 
thirty years. Each recurring anniversary of his ac- 
cession was celebrated, according to a family custom, 
with especial rejoicings."^ The tetrarch's birthday 
* Josephus, Ant, xv, 11, 6. 



The Birthday Feast. 339 

was alwaj'S observed in a similar manner. It was on 
one of these latter occasions, the date of which we 
can fix approximately in the summer or autumn of 
A. D. 29," that Antipas sent out invitations to all the 
chief men of his realm to a celebration to be con- 
ducted upon a scale of especial magnificence at 
Machaerus, where the tetrarch made his head-quar- 
ters, probably as the most convenient point for the 
oversight and management of his forces in holding in 
check Aretas, his quondam father-in-law. The chief 
captains and officers of the army, the lords and first 
men of Galilee and Perea, the sheiks of the neigh- 
boring tribes whom Herod was anxious to retain as 
friendly allies, together with such Koman dignitaries 
as were within reach, were all summoned to the royal 
castle. Mark vi, 21. 

The enormous wealth of the Herods, the archi- 
tectural magnificence of their palaces and castles^ 
and especially their well-known tendency to extrav- 
agant display, make it certain that this feast, so far 
as the chosen purpose of Antipas was concerned, 
was a most memorable affair, and that, for the time 
being at least, Machaerus was a very paradise for 
both the gourmand and the sensualist. The palace 
was hung with garlands of flowers, the apartments 
w^ere brilliantly illuminated, the tables were spread 
with the most costly and ostentatious luxuries, and the 
rarest wines flowed as freely as water, f 

* Renao's Life of Jesus, 130. f Persius, Satire v, 180-184. 



340 John the Baptist. 

The mirth and revelry were unrestrained, and 
many a weak head besides that of Antipas was fairly 
turned by the excitement and excesses of the hour. 
A luxurious feast of this period was not regarded as 
complete without the presence of female dancers, 
who gratified the sensual tastes of the guests with 
some gross pantomimic represenfation, often as inde- 
cent and degrading as it was graceful and artistic. 
In these particulars the dance was very like our 
most sensational modern ballet. The dancer was 
usually masked, to conceal the face, but the dress was 
so arranged that the beauty of the figure was shown 
to the best advantage, and the performer was un- 
trammeled in the skillful expression of various feel- 
ingl and passions. The subject of this pantomimic 
dance was usually mythological, and therefore the 
performance was essentially heathen. But Antipas 
was as much pagan as Jew, and so did not scruple 
to introduce it as a prominent feature of his enter- 
tainments, for the special delectation of his Gentile 
guests. His father before him had set an example 
in this particular by building in his palace a theater 
for the Thymelici. ^ In accordance with this evil 
fashion of the day the tetrarch had arranged for the 
dance, and in addition to the regular programme 
Herodias, who was not permitted by Eastern custom 
to be present at the festive board with men, but was 

^ Lid. of Antiquities^ art. " Pantomimus." Farrar's Life of Christy 
chap. 28. 



The Birthday Feast. 341 

in her own private apartments at the castle, had art- 
fully provided a genuine surprise and pleasure for 
the tetrarch and his guests. 

Her daughter Salome,*^ a granddaughter of 
Herod the Great and Mariamne, a descendant, there- 
fore, of Simon the high-priest, and the great line of 
Maccabean princes — a princess who afterward be- 
came the wife of a tetrarch and the mother of a 
king — boldly broke over the restraints of respectable 
custom and in extravagant honor to the occasion, 
but with real dishonor to herself, suddenly appeared 
before Herod and his band of half-intoxicated rev- 
elers as the chief performer in a scenic dance. She 
was then in the very flush of her young and lustrous 
beauty, and her performance was a great success. 
Herod was nearly wild with wine and the excitement 
of this unexpected pleasure. 

It has always been customary for royalty, under 
such circumstances, to bestow gifts upon successful 
performers — a practice still in vogue at the courts 
of Europe — and Herod, in his drunken delirium, 

* Wisdom is justified of her children sometimes in curious ways. 
Scrivener, Burgon, and their less competent imitator, Edward Miller, 
have indulged in great ridicule against Westcott and Hort for call- 
ing the daughter of Herodias "Herodias," in the Gospel of Mark, 
when Josephus testifies that tier name was Salome. But the publi- 
cation of the Book of the Bee shows that the Syrian traditions call 
her Botiya, yet at the same time say that " some relate that she was 
called Herodias, after the name of her mother." — See The Indejpendent^ 
Sept. 1, 1887. 



342 John the Baptist. 

determined on a recompense that should be wortliy 
the high station of the favorite. Forgetting for tlie 
moment that he occupied his throne at the will of 
the Emperor Tiberius, and could perform no impor- 
tant act without his consent, he rashly vowed that he 
would give to the brazen-faced beauty any thing slie 
might choose to ask, even to the half of his king- 
dom. In this extravagant promise Herod is not 
alone either among ancient or modern magnates of 
the Orient. Calmet mentions a Shah Abbas who 
promised to a dancer, during a drunken carouse, 
the revenues of a province. After his recovery, at 
the instance of his vizier, he broke his promise and 
gave her a present of two hundred pounds. 

Salome would doubtless have ambitiously chosen 
the half of the kingdom, but did not venture to de- 
cide the matter without the opinion of her mother, 
whom she hastened to consult. Mark vi, 24. Hero- 
dias, by a strange freak of fortune, now suddenly 
stood face to face with the opportunity she had so 
long coveted. Like tlie vain woman that she was, 
fond of ostentatious display, she might naturally 
have asked for a palace more beautiful than Herod 
had yet built, or for robes and jewels that would 
exhaust the skill and patience of the world's best 
artisans ; or, doubtful of her personal securit}^, now 
that her world-famed beauty had begun to fade, she 
might have demanded that under no possible cir- 
cumstances would Herod listen to the voice of eon- 



The Birthday Feast. 343 

science or the prophet and put her away. But she 
was too much of a Herod herself to be satisfied with 
things so commonplace as these. Revenge was 
sweeter to her than any other boon which even a 
prince could grant, and unhesitatingly she met the 
question of her daughter with the fierce command, 
" Ask of him the head of John the Baptizer." One 
can imagine that she hissed out the awful words 
with all the venom of a demon, while her face, 
which men had so often deemed fascinating in its 
radiant loveliness, was now black witli malignant 
hate. The tiger in her nature was thoroughly 
aroused. She was eager for the sight of blood. 
Salome was an apt pupil, and, sharing her mother's 
fear that if the matter was deferred until Herod had 
time to give it his second sober thought he would 
break his oath, she straightway with haste (Mark vi, 
25) returned to the banquet hall while the mad revel 
was yet on, and startled the king with the demand 
that he should perform the blackest deed of a black 
and selfish life by giving her iramediatel}^^ in the 
presence of the assembled guests, the severed head 
of John the Baptist. 

* " Give me here^ Matt, xiv, 8. 



344 John the Baptist. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE EXECUTION. 

The charger (Matt, xiv, 6-12) in which Salome 
explicitly stipulated the chosen gift should be pre- 
sented to her, might have been a dish or platter of 
any kind used for serving up food, but was probably 
one of the golden dishes which graced the board of 
the opulent tja-ant, the use of which would be in 
keeping with the spirit of the occasion, and especially 
appropriate to this insane mingling of revelry and 
slaughter. 

When the young and beautiful girl imperiously 
made her devilish demand the guests may have been 
excited to increased merriment by the unique and 
monstrous exhibition ; but Herod was sobered in a 
moment. Conflicting emotions raged in his bosom. 
He was angry at thought of the mean advantage his 
unprincipled spouse had taken of him, for he had no 
difiiculty in discerning her cunning hand back of tlie 
pretty puppet whose graceful antics had turned his 
muddled head. He was disappointed and grieved by 
such a tragic termination of his birthday feast. IsTo 
doubt he had often desired John's death, yet he was 
appalled and sick at heart that it should now be 



The Execution. 345 

brought about through such an agency. With all his 
arrogance, Herod feared the people, and he knew well 
that their fiercest anger would be aroused by this 
story of the cruel death of John, whom they loved 
and revered as a prophet of God. They would think 
it bad enough for the Baptist to die in the very 
prime of life, even though his end were natural and 
peaceful ; but to be slain without trial or warning, 
merely to gratify the hate of a vile and dissolute 
w^oman and to give an added zest to a drunken 
carousal, were an outrage which could hardly fail to 
stir up revolt against the tetrarch's tyranny. Besides 
all this, Herod himself shared, to quite a degree, the 
religious awe with which the multitude regarded the 
Baptist's character and calling. 

On the other hand, a despicable pride rose np to 
overmaster his reason and his fear. He fancied that 
he was fairly in Salome's power; that his honor 
would be seriously compromised if he refused to 
abide by his oath. 

The sacredness of an oath to an Eastern monarch 
is strikingly shown in a story which Herodotus relates 
of Xerxes, the famous Persian king and conqueror. 
A young and beautiful favorite had greatly pleased 
the monarch, and he promised, with an oath, to give 
her whatever she asked. Forthwith she foolishly 
asked a splendid cloak he was wearing, which 
had been woven for him by his wife. Partly from 
liking for the cloak, but more for terror of his 



346 John the Baptist. 

wife, he would not consent to this; but, to honor 
his oath, he gave her a city and a vast sum in 
gold, and a military force which she alone should 
command."^ 

To be sure, Herod might as well be a perjurer as a 
murderer, and a wicked promise, especially when 
made in unthinking haste, is better broken than kept ; 
but he feared the laugh and the future criticisms of 
the high personages who sat at meat with him more 
than he feared to do wrong, or dreaded the lashes of 
an outraged conscience. To his guests it was a huge 
though ghastly joke, but to him it was a most terrible 
tragedy ; and yet he had not moral courage to repu- 
diate the request as not in harmony with either the 
letter or the spirit of his oath. He forgot that " two 
wrongs never make a right," and deliberately chose 
to keep his foolish promise at the expense of his judg- 
ment, his moral sense, his political astuteness, and his 
manliness. " A point of honor rises here. He must 
not flinch, but keep his pledge before his honorable 
fellows. A duelist or a gambler is the very model 
of such faith.'' 

In this cruel act, which has covered his name with 
everlasting infamy, Herod stands as the representative 
of a large class, not only in his day, but in our own. 
The man who outrages the sacred rights of the domes- 
tic circle by appearing before his family in a state of 
intoxication, and finds his excuse in the social duties 

* Herodotus, ix, 108-112. 



The Execution. SiT 

he owes to his friends, who insisted upon his joining 
them in a convivial glass ; the thousands of men and 
women who phmge into reckless extravagances, lead- 
ing to financial ruin, and justify themselves with the 
old plea of the necessity of keeping up appearances ; 
business men ^vho are guilty of dishonorable prac- 
tices, and then hide behind tlie so-called necessities of 
the case in a last effort to ward off impending ruin ; 
together with the multitudes who deliberately do evil 
in the hope that good may follow, all belong in the 
same category with the tetrarch of Galilee. Wrong 
is always wrong ; and there can be no circumstances 
which before the bar of a true morality and a true 
conscience will justify it. 

But all the habits, associations, and acts of Herod's 
past life had conspired to make him weak at this crisis 
in his career, and we are not surprised by the decision 
at which he finally arrived. Summoning, therefore, 
the officer of the guard, he commanded him to take 
an executioner, and, with all possible dispatch, bring 
to the royal presence John's head. 

It was probably at night, when the Baptist upon 
his dungeon couch was dreaming that the Deliverer, 
for whose advent he had hoped so often in his waking 
thoughts, had come at last. And now, suddenly 
aroused by the rattling of the bolt, and the flash of 
the unaccustomed light, he is confronted not by the 
Worker of mighty miracles, come to cheer and save 
his too-long-forgotten friend and forerunner, but by 



348 John the Baptist. 

the grim executioner, who bids him bare his neck and 
^ bow his head at once to the fatal stroke. It was 
now, for the first time, that "the shadow of tlie 
cross, cast by the shining of the crown always above 
and beyond it," fell upon the events of this new 
movement in Israel. 

" See the murder of John. Jesus letting him go 
unrescued to the block marks with a red initial the 
rejection of all elements of compulsion — the final di- 
vorce of righteousness from violence — in the methods 
of the kingdom. Peter's confession is the positive 
to that negative. Its spirit and power was the rock 
on which Christ would, as the spirit and power of 
Elijah was that on which he would not, build his 
Church. The transfiguration is heaven's acceptance 
of the new foundation, tln^ough that very Moses and 
Elijah whom it superseded. Even in the payment 
of the half-shekel we may see the infant Church's first 
applied lesson to meek endurance of injustice for lov- 
ing ends. All these prepare ns somewhat to under- 
stand how Christ could choose to go to certain death, 
and yet his action and intent be as far from suicide as 
one pole of heaven is from the other. 

" He never, actively or passively, sought the cross. 
He willingly endured it, rather than swerve one hand- 
breadth from seeking, for our sakes, the crown. He 
said of his life, ' I lay it down myself ; ' and to die 
was his choice, but it was not his wish. His choice 
when sinful man thrust it before him with the two 



The Execution. 349 

alternatives, either to abandon the establishment of 
his kingdom or else to call into service that ' violence ' 
— that compulsion — which that kingdom had forever 
. put aside. It was only rather than these that he 
chose to move on to and through death and disgrace, 
and win thereby, stained only with his own blood, 
that first complete victory over sin instead of over 
sinners, the method of which, repeated in his follow- 
ers, insures sin's final destruction. Thus he could 
say, ' Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,' and yet be 
guiltless of his own certain death. 

"We call that to which he was going the passion, 
but it was the most aggressive action and attitude of 
his life. The time was ripe. The first great duty 
of the Messianic office — to reveal the kingdom, to plant 
it in humble hearts, to found its Church in consecrated 
human lives — was done. Now the strategic moment 
and the supreme strategic necessity cried, ' On to 
Jerusalem.' Thither he turned to a foreseen death, not 
seeking it, but ' despising ' it, when it stood hetween 
him and the conquest to which God had sent him / 
went, according to his unbelieving kinsmen's chal- 
lenge, to ' manifest himself,' to enter the world's cap- 
ital of spiritual truth, to purge its temple, and there 
to proclaim himself that way, truth, and life — that 
only perfect art, science, and practical example of 
true living — which makes him the only leader of men 
into the kingdom of God." ^ 

* George W. Cable's remarks on Matt, xx, 17-28. 



350 John the Baptist. 

It was a short warning indeed to John. No ex- 
planation was given. There was none to give. Not 
a day, not an hour even, was vouchsafed for final 
preparation. The tyrant's order for instant execution 
was imperative. The damsel and the guests were 
waiting for the grand finale of their choice bit of 
tragedy, and the king's menials must not trespass upon 
their patience. 

There was no chronicler to witness the martyr's 
death, and then to tell us how he looked and what 
he said. But we may be sure he bore himself like 
the prince of brave and good men that he was. He 
knew that his short life was complete ; that in it the 
measure of God's plan and order was gloriously filled. 
His prophet's vision pierced the veil which hid the 
upper from the lower world, and he saw that he was 
now to reach, by a quicker and a shorter route than 
even his Master, the eternal glories of that heavenly 
kingdom he had so eloquently and faithfully heralded. 
His king was to die a felon's death, and was the serv- 
ant to be above his lord ? 

Like a true soldier, he instantly girded up his spirit 
to meet his doom. A moment or two of prayer; a 
thought, or perhaps a shout of triumph, and the death- 
blow fell. " Death opened to the captive the gates of 
Machserus, that it might usher him into the liberty 
of the kingdom of God." 

The infernal deed was done. Our hero had fairly 
won the martyr's crown. He died as he had lived : 



The Execution. 351 

with the same bold, startling decision and prompt- 
ness. In another moment the well-trained executioner 
appeared before the expectant revelers, clutching by 
its long hair that noble head, which at once was 
placed upon the dish from the rojal table and pre- 
sented to the damsel, who, now transformed into a 
hideous waitress at the feast of death, bore it to her 
mother. ''Let ns hope that the awful spectacle 
haunted the souls of both thenceforth till the end of 
life." 

It was a terrible winding-up of the feast of Herod 
— the sting of which was forever after to torture his 
soul. How was it with the more guilty, because more 
deliberately vindictive, Herodias? No doubt, for 
the moment the sense of hated vengeance filled her 
heart with joy, when she looked upon the dimmed 
eye that no more could flash reproof, and the palsied 
tongue that could never again denounce her sin. But 
as she gazed the old-time sternness seemed to darken 
and intensify upon the rigid features of the man of 
God, until her flinty heart grew faint, her joy turned 
to horror, and she waved the ghastly object from her 
sight. 

Weird and barbarous as this scene appears, it is 
still in horrible keeping with many incidents recorded 
of Eastern courts in that savage age. As a sequel to 
his account of the favorite who chose, as a reward, 
the cloak which Xerxes wore, Herodotus says that 
Amestris, the wife of that monarch, thinking that the 



352 John the Baptist. 

young girl had been led by her mother to ask the 
cloak, determined that that unfortunate lady should 
be destroyed. Amestris, therefore, on a birthday 
festival of her husband, demanded that he should give 
up the wife of Masistes to her jealous rage. This he 
hesitated to do, but Amestris was so persistent in her 
request that he fancied he could not, on that day, 
refuse. JSTo entreaty of Masistes could avail for his 
wife, whom he sincerely loved, Xerxes having once 
commanded her to be surrendered to her rival. Nor 
is the grim parallel to the fury of Herodias wanting, 
for the spearmen of Xerxes were forthwith sent by 
the frantic Amestris, and cut her rival to pieces, 
throwing her in fragments to the dogs.^ Caligula, 
crowned Emperor of Rome A. D. 37, often caused 
criminals, and even innocent persons, to be stretched 
on the rack or beheaded for the amusement of him- 
self and his guests at his feasts ; and honors were be- 
stowed upon the swordsmen who showed the most 
skill in this kind of butchery. At a public banquet 
of especial magnificence, he ordered the executioner 
to strike off the hands of a slave accused of having 
taken a silver plate from one of the couches, and 
made the poor wretch go round and round the tables 
with his hands hanging on his breast, from a string 
round his neck, a board being carried before him 
inscribed with his offense.f 

* Herodotus ix, 108-112. 

f Anthon's Classical Diet., art. "Caligula;" G-eikie, vol. i, p. 4=31. 



The Execution. 353 

John's headless trunk was left upon the prison 
floor, or perhaps, as tradition tells us, Herodias or- 
dered it to be flung out over the battlements for dogs 
and vultures to devour. In either case, when the 
disciples of John heard what had happened they 
came at once to the castle, and Herod, perhaps 
moved by penitence, or fear, to some show of kind- 
ness, permitted them to take up the corpse and bear 
it tenderly and sadly away to burial. Matt, xiv, 12. 

Moses, the first great prophet of Israel, was buried 
upon a mountain-top, or in a secluded ravine, not far 
from the hallowed spot where John, the last prophet 
of the noble line, was now entombed. Until this 
day, however, no man knows exactly the sepulcher 
of either the lawgiver or the baptizer. Traditions 
which have no reliable foundation locate John's 
tomb in various noted shrines of Palestine, chief of 
which is the Church of St. John, in the city of 
Samaria, built in honor of their patron the Baptist 
by the Knights of St. John in the days of the cru- 
sades. The ruins of this ancient church show that it 
was originally a noble structure, in every way worthy 
the prophet whose grand character it commemorates ; 
but there is not a shadow of proof that the tomb still 
pointed out, and revered by Romanists and Moham- 
medans alike, ever contained the remains of our 
Lord's great forerunner. 

Unquestionably John w^as buried in an unknown 
grave, toward which, as to a sacred shrine, no pilgrim 



354 John the Baptist. 

feet have ever trod ; yet the same all-wise and all- 
truthful Friend who pronounced him tlie greatest 
among them that are born of women, agahi speak- 
ing through the lips of his chosen evangelist, has 
pronounced liis brief but perfect epitaph : "John ful- 
iilled his course." Acts xiii, 25. 

James must have had the Baptist in mind, as well 
as the Old Testament heroes, when he wrote : "Take, 
my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the 
name of the Lord, for an example of suffering afflic- 
tion, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy 
which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of 
Job, and have seen the end of the Lord ; that the 
Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." James 
V, 10, 11. To one like John the Baptist, who is a 
comparatively unappreciated innovator in society, 
whose work is to prepare the way for others to sow 
and reap, death is kind. To one who, after such a 
brilliant but brief public career, must henceforth de- 
crease while another will increase, sixty or seventy 
years could be no less than an intolerable burden. 
God did not thus aiflict his faithful servant. ALike 
Jesus, he finished the work he came to do, and, like 
Jesus, he gained a timely entrance into glory through 
the sweep of a divine and irresistible tide ; and in 
the great day of the Lord there will be no one, save 
Jesus himself, who will be greeted by the glorified 
preachers of the truth with a more enrapturing thrill 
or a deeper joy than this mighty man of God, whose 



The Execution. 355 

name must ever be a synonym for moral strength 
and fidelity. 

Let us turn and give a parting look at the man — 
the greatest of all Israelites, who has no superior in 
any day or generation. Let us not belittle him by 
any sentimental pity for his misfortunes, and so " in- 
sult the dignity of all struggling souls, and make 
utilitarians of all benefactors, and give false views of 
success." He has conferred a benefit upon the world 
so transcendent that it can scarcely be appreciated 
even in the best age and by the brightest minds. 
Who among men could compensate him for such a 
service? His refined soul would value lightly all 
worldly honors, as it soared far above and beyond all 
vulgar rewards. More than any other great historical 
character, he w^as unselfish, disinterested, and true to 
his exalted mission ; a most noble specimen both of a 
man and a prophet, whose work and example will 
form a large part of the world's richest inheritance 
for all time to come. We regret his quickly closing 
days, after such a brief but unexampled career of 
power and influence, but it would be puerile affecta- 
tion to pity him : we may as well commiserate Soc- 
rates, or Paul, or Stephen, or John Huss, as he cries 
out at the stake, " In the truth of that Gospel which 
hitherto T have written, taught, and preached, I ncyuo 
joyfully dieP The greatest men have come to their 
coronation through the pains of martyrdom. Their 
light may have been obscured, for a time, by a cloud 



356 John the Baptist. 

of ignominy and crnei hatred, but has never been ex- 
tinguished ; and in another and a juster age it has 
flamed up again, to gladden successive generations in 
their toilsome progress toward a fall redemption of 
the human mind and heart. The truth which, 
through the inspired wisdom and eloquence of John, 
gained its signal triumph at the beginning of our era 
has never since faltered in its all-conquering march, 
has never waned in aggressive force for want of 
either lieralds or heroes, clear expounders of precept, 
or faithful teachers by example ; so the world has 
been steadily growing freer and better from his day 
to ours. Each generation has prepared the way for a 
better and more successful age to follow. John was 
the foreruimer of Clirist, the herald of all that Chris- 
tianity has brought us. 

So let us rather congratulate John than sorrow 
for him. In the glowing words of one who himself 
manifested the spirit of a moral hero, though he 
lacked the wisdom and will to give it safe direction, 
let us say: '^The Baptist has done the Almighty 
good service — he has not turned back on any occa- 
sion from his perilous duty — he has kept his Nazarite 
ritual both in body and spirit, sustaining the one by 
the simplest meat and the other upon tlie hardest 
conditions. The Almighty heard the voice which he 
spoke always for his well-beloved Son; he saw that 
he spoke truth and held his integrity steadfast unto 
the end. And perceiving in his servant such noble 



The Execution. 357 

and excellent qualities, he resolved to perfect him 
for a high place in heaven, and so directed his 
footsteps to the fierj furnace of a court, that the 
temper of his truth and piety might be purified 
manifold. And in the fiery furnace he walked with his 
servant, so that his spirit was not harmed, and having 
thus annealed his nature to the utmost which this 
earth could do, he took him hastily away and placed 
him among the glorified in heaven.""^ 

After John's disciples had performed the simple 
funeral rites, their first care was, with sore if not 
bitter hearts, to go and tell Jesus that his friend and 
forerunner was dead. Matt, xiv, 12. ^'And to 
whom should these orphans of the martyred prophet 
go but to him, the prophet's greater Lord ? " About 
the same time the twelve disciples of Jesus returned 
from their mission '' to the lost sh^eep of the house 
of Israel " (Matt, x, 6), and with them Jesus imme- 
diately took his departure northward. " Our Lord 
gives to his disciples, as a reason for this departure, 
their need of retirement and rest. And in relation 
to them it was a true and tender reason, but in regard 
to himself and his mission a far higher reason existed. 
When Jesus at his early home in Nazareth heard 
that John was baptizing in Jordan he doubtless 
realized that he was summoned to enter upon the 
preparation for his ministry. Yet after his baj)tism 
he still stood in the background while his messenger 
* Edward Irving's Works, iii, 180. 



358 John the Baptist. 

was preparing his way before him. After that time 
the key of all the transactions between the Baptist 
and the Messiah is furnished in John's words, ' He 
must increase and I must decrease.' The subordi- 
nate must gradually retire before his superior. 
When John was imprisoned, therefore, a period ar- 
rived in which our Lord commenced his opening 
ministry. The subordinate ceases his labors, but he 
and his disciples are still extant. But with the fore- 
runner's expiring breath the interregnum closes and 
the Lord enters upon his full office. At that same 
period our Lord is commissioning his twelve and 
sending them forth as apostles to the twelve tribes. 
His fame is filling the halls of Herod Antipas. It 
is both a crisis of great danger and the period of 
his broadest enlargement. To avoid the ruling pow- 
ers, whose eyes are now in search of him, he departs 
for northern Galilee, where he spends the whole of 
this period of his ministry. He crosses the Lake of 
Gennesaret, followed by thousands ; he is at one time 
at the extreme north-west, even at Tyre and Sidon, 
and soon at the extreme north-east, at Cesarea 
Pliilippi. Though an apparent refugee from the 
ruling power, his field is broadening, his fame 
spreading, and his disciples unite in the completest 
recognition of his Messiahship. That meridian 
point attained, this period closes and the ministry of 
his sorrow commences." ^ 

* Whedon on Matthew, p. 183. 



Conclusion. 359 



CONCLUSIOK 

From the moment he had been entrapped into 
committing the terrible murder with which his de- 
spised name will forever be connected, Herod had 
no peace. As Theodoric, who had ordered the foul 
murder of Symmachus, was ever after haunted, and 
at last driven mad by a vision of the old man's pain- 
distorted features glaring at him from a dish on the 
table, so Herod's mind could never have been free 
from the accusing look of the man who had dared 
to deal faithfully with him even at the cost of his 
life, and whom the tyrant in his secret soul must 
have regarded as most holy and just. And when 
he heard but a short time afterward of a new 
prophet who had risen in the land, and who per- 
formed mighty miracles, it is no wonder that he 
was startled, and — speaking in confidence to his inti- 
mate associates and counselors — gave vent to his su- 
perstitious fears in the words, " This is John the 
Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore 
mighty works are wronglit by him." Matt, xiv, 2. 
He knew that a resurrected prophet, endowed with 
miraculous power, would make small account of 
armed guards, or bolts and bars of massive iron, and 
no doubt lived in daily dread lest his ever-to-be- 



360 John the Baptist. 

triuraphant enemy should suddenly appear in the 
stronghold of Machaerus or the gilded halls of 
Julius or Tiberius, to execute vengeance upon his 
cowardly persecutor. So this mighty servant of 
God, who had not feared his oppressor in life, in 
death domineered over him by day and by night, 
giving him no peace, planting thorns in his unhal- 
lowed couch, imbittering every feast and poisoning 
every cup of pleasure. JN"© supernatural vengeance 
overtook him, how^ever. He was left to the some- 
times slow but always exact and inevitable justice 
of God, and in that the conscience-smitten criminal 
found the most terrible and fitting compensation for 
his crimes. 

It is only necessary to make here a brief reference 
to the after career of Herod and Herodias. Shortly 
after the death of the Baptist, Antipas returned to 
Tiberias to continue a life of effeminate luxury. 
Salome was soon married to Philip, the tetrarch of 
Trachonitis, her paternal uncle, who was already an 
old man, and who in a few years died childless, when 
Salome returned again to her mother. This ill-as- 
sorted marriage was a pure speculation on the part of 
Herodias, who expected by it to get control of the 
territory of her enfeebled son-in-law. But she was 
sadly disappointed, for, on Philip's death, the emperor 
incorporated Trachonitis with the province of Syria. 

As the years went by Herodias's unchecked temper 
grew more and more violent and imperious. Her 



Conclusion. 361 

ambition, too, seemed to increase rather than dimin- 
ish by disappointment, until it well-nigh drove her 
mad and qnite proved the ruin of herself and An- 
tipas. The favors shown by the Emperor Caius 
(Caligula) to Herod Agrippa I. filled the soul of 
llerodias with envy, and she gave Antipas no rest 
until he consented to set out with her for Home, 
where she hoped to gain such influence with the em- 
peror as to secure equal distinction and advancement 
with her fortunate brother. She was especially anx- 
ious that her husband should secure the title of king, 
instead of being content with the more humble one 
of tetrarch. Antipas loved his ease, had grown ex- 
cessively timid during these later years, and had no 
heart for such ambitious schemes, especially when, as 
he tried to point out to his wife, they involved both 
political and personal danger. But Herodias was de- 
termined, and they persevered in their enterprise. 
The event fully justified Antipas's fears. The nu- 
merous princes and potentates of the Herod family 
bore no particular love for each other, and Agrippa, 
fearing that Antipas would interfere more or less 
with his own ambitious plans for promotion and 
favor, actually concocted a charge of treason against 
the tetrarch. This charge was prosecuted before the 
emperor, and Antipas, failing to clear himself, was 
deprived of his kingdom and banished, in A. D. 39, 
to Liigdunum— probably St. Bertrand de Comminges, 
in Gaul, not far from the Spanish frontier. Accord- 



362 John the Baptist. 

ing to some authorities Herodias was offered a par- 
don and the emperor made her a present of money, 
telling lier that it was her brother Agrippa who 
prevented her being involved in the same calamity 
as her husband. The best trait of her character 
is shown when, in true Jewish spirit, she refused 
this offer, and voluntarily chose to share the exile 
of her husband."^ Both died in obscurity and 
dishonor. 

Salome was married the second time to her cousin 
Aristobulus, by whom she had three sons. Whether 
vengeance ever overtook her for her many crimes we 
cannot surely tell, but there is a legendary account of 
her death, to the effect that she accompanied her 
mother Herodias and her father-in-law Herod in their 
banishment ; and on their journey, as they passed over 
a river that was frozen, the ice broke under her feet 
and she sank in up to her neck, when, the ice uniting 
again, she remained thus suspended by it, and suffered 
the same punishment she had made John the Baptist 
undergo.f 

Great honors have been paid to the memory of 
John the Baptist, in the Roman Catholic Church es- 
pecially. He has not only been canonized as a saint, 
but two festivals are celebrated in his honor : the 24tli 
of June, in devout remembrance of his birth, and the 
29th of August, to commemorate his " decollation.'^ 

* See McClintoek and Strong's Cyclopedia, art " Herod." 
t Niceph. H. E., i, 20. 



Conclusion. 363 

Numerous clmrclies have been erected in memory of 
his holy life, and honored with his name. " In all 
the early Christian edifices, even in the catacombs, 
there was set apart a baptistery, with a font for the 
baptizing of children and converts, always dedicated 
to St. John the Baptist." ^ 

The Baptist is the patron saint of the city of Flor- 
ence, Italy, and the magnificent baptistery adjoining 
the cathedral stands as a hallowed shrine to all true 
lovers of art, depicting as it does, in carved stone 
and precious bronzes (which attest the genius of such 
masters as Giotto, Ghiberti, and Andrea Pisano), the 
life and work of the great forerunner. The world- 
renowned cathedral of Amiens is dedicated to John, 
and the appreciative visitor never tires of studying 
the superb series of sculptures in alto-relievo sur- 
rounding the choir, and representing successive events 
in the prophet's wonderful career. In painting, Leon- 
ardo, Raphael, Eubens, Yandyke, Murillo, and other 
masters of lesser note taxed their skill to the utmost 
in working out their ideals of the childhood and vig- 
orous young manhood of the herald of Christ. Poets, 
too, have taken up the theme in manj^ noble pro- 
ductions in many languages, while the greatest mas- 
ters of music have with equal reverence and skill laid 
their offerings at the Baptist's feet. Thus history 
and poesy, religion and art, science and song, have 
vied with each other in perpetuating the spirit and 
* Mrs. Jameson. 



364 John the Baptist. 

tlie work of this man of God, this glorious herald of 
the morning. ' 

A curious ilhistration of the credulity and super- 
stition of tlie Roman Catholic Church is given in the 
so-called historical statements as to the final dispo- 
sition made of the remains of John the Baptist. 
Eufinus and Theodoret certify that his corpse was 
entombed at Sebaste, in Samaria. Mohammedans 
have named it the " Tomb of the Prophet John, the 
Son of Zacharias." 

Komanists say this tomb was violated by the pagans 
in the reign of Julian, and the greater part of the 
prophet's body was burned. Such portions as were 
preserved by the Christians were secured by Athan- 
asius and deposited in a crypt beneath a magnificent 
Church which Theodosius erected in Alexandria 
A. D. 396. Small portions of the sacred ashes w^ere 
sent to other churches in various parts of Christen- 
dom to bless their devout custodians and work mir- 
acles for the benefit of the faithful. 

We are further assured that certain holy men, 
under divine guidance, actually discovered the severed 
head of the Baptist in Jerusalem A. D. 453. After 
various vicissitudes of fortune, its guardians trans- 
ported the head to Emessa, in Syria, where a church 
was built to receive it. In A. D. 800 the holy relic 
was removed to Constantinople. In A. D. 1204 
Constantinople was captured by the French. They 
found that part of the skull had disappeared, but 



Conclusion. 365 

secured the face, which they reverently brought to 
Amiens, and deposited in a costly shrine, built for 
the purpose, in tlie eatliedral Church ah-eady men- 
tioned. Part of the skull is also said to be preserved 
in St. Silvester's Church in Kome, but just how its 
genuineness is established we are not informed. 

Cardinal Wiseman has shown quite as much big- 
otry as skill in his lengthy argument to demonstrate 
that since, from personal inspection, he is satisfied 
that these widely scattered portions would fit into 
one another if brought together, there can be but lit- 
tle doubt that when joined they constitute the verita- 
ble head of John the Baptist."^ 

As a worthy specimen of a style of investigation 
and argument peculiar to the anointed scholars of the 
Roman Catholic Church, I append a portion of Cardi- 
nal Wiseman's dissertation upon the above mentioned 
relic, as quoted and approved by one of equal author- 
ity with its learned author, at least among Romanists : 

Suffice it to say that, according to travelers, there are three 
heads of St. John. Now, as I have said, a body can be divided, 
but you can hardly imagine this to be the case with a head. 
I will read you an extract, then, from Sir John Mandeville: 

'^From thence we go up to Samaria, which is now called 
Sebaste: it is the chief city of that country. There was wont 
to be the head of St. John the Baptist inclosed in the wall, 
but the Emperor Theodosius had it drawn out, and found it 
wrapped in a little cloth, all bloody, and so he carried it to 
Constantinople; and the hinder part of the head is still at 

* See Stanley's Sinai and Palestine^ p. 242 ; Tillemont, Memoires, 
vol. i, pp. 82-108; Acta Sanct, iv, pp. 687-846. 



366 John the Baptist. 

Constantinople; and the fore part of the head, to under the 
chin, under the Church of St. Silvester, where are nuns, and 
it is yet all broiled, as though it were half burnt; for the 
Emperor Julian, above mentioned, of his wickedness and 
malice, burnt that part with other bones, as may still be seen; 
and this thing hath been proved both by popes and emperors. 
And the jaws beneath which hold to the chin, and apart of the 
ashes, and the platter on which the head was laid when it was 
smitten off, are at Genoa; and the Genoese make a great feast 
in honor of it, and so do the Saracens also. And some men 
say that the head of St. John is at Amiens, in Picardy; and 
other men say that it is the head of St. John the bishop. I 
know not which is correct, but God knows; but, however men 
worship it, the blessed St. John is satisfied." 

This is a true Catholic sentiment. Right or wrong, all mean 
to honor St. John, and there is an end of it. We could not 
expect a traveler going through the country like Sir John, not 
visiting every place, but hearing one thing from one and 
another from another, to tell us the exact full truth. But we 
have here two very important points gained. First, we have the 
singular fact of the division of the bead at all. We occasion- 
ally hear of the head of a saint being at a particular place, but 
seldom of a part of a head being in one place and a part in another. 
Here we have an unprejudiced traveler going into the East. 
He comes to the place where the head of St. John used to be 
kept, and he finds there the tradition that it was divided into 
three parts, one of which was at Constantinople, one at Genoa, 
and another at Rome. Then he adds, '^ Other people say that 
the head is at Amiens.'' So much Sir John Mandeville further 
informs us. He mentions the place where it was reported 
the head was, telling us that it was divided into three. This 
is a statement worthy of being verified. It was made a long 
time ago, and yet the traditions remain the same. It was as 
well believed in the thirteenth century in the East, at Sebaste, 
as it is in Europe at the present moment. The Church of St. 
Silvester in Capite is a small church on the east side of the 
Corso, entered by a sort of vestibule; it has an atrium or court, 



Conclusion. 367 

with arches round, and dwellings for the chaplains. The 
outer gates can be shut at night, so as to prevent completely 
any access to the church. The rest is an immense building 
belonging to the nuns. When the Republicans in the late in- 
vasion got hold of Rome the first thing which they did was 
to turn out the monks and nuns right and left, to make barracks ; 
and the poor nuns of St. Silvester were ordered to move. The 
head of St. John is in a shrine which looks very brilliant, and the 
nuns kept it in jealous custody in their house. The Republi- 
cans sent away the nuns in the middle of the night, and the 
poor creatures were ordered to take up their abode in the con- 
vent of St. Pudentiana. The only thing they thought of was 
their relic, and that they carried with them. 

When the French came to Rome they continued to hold 
St. Silvester, but permitted the nuns to occupy some rooms 
near the chureh. I was in Rome while they were still at my 
titular church, and went to visit the nuns attached to it. 
Their guests were asked, ''Would you not like to see our 
relic of St. John?" I said, ''Certainly I should; perhaps I 
shall never have another opportunity." I do not suppose 
that it had been out of their house for hundreds of years. 
There is a chapel within the convent which the nuns of 
St. Pudentiana consider a sacred oratory, and in this they 
kept the shrine. On examination, I found that there was 
no part of the head except the back. It is said in the ex- 
tract I have read to you that the front part of the head is 
at Rome, but it is the back of the skull merely; the rest is 
filled up with some stuffing, and silk over it. The nuns 
have but a third of the head ; and the assertion that they 
pretend to possess the head, which travelers make, is clearly 
false. I can say from my own ocular inspection, that it is 
but the third part — the back part— which is the most inter- 
esting, because there the stroke of martyrdom fell. I was 
certainly glad of this fortunate opportunity of verifying the 
relic. Some time afterward I was at Amiens. I was very 
intimate with the late bishop, and spent some days with him. 
One day he said to me, "Would you wish to see our head 



368 John the Baptist. 

of St. John ?" *^ Yes," I replied, ^'I should much desire it." 
**Well," he said, *'we will wait till the afternoon ; then I 
will have the gates of the cathedral closed, that we may ex- 
amine it at leisure." "We dined early, and went into the 
chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, where the relic was exposed, 
with candles. After saying prayers, it was brought, and I had 
it in my hands. It was nothing but the mask, the middle and 
back portions being totally wanting. You could almost trace 
the expression and character of the countenance in the bony 
structure. It was of the same size and color as the portion 
which I had seen at St. Pudentiana; but the remarkable thing 
about it is that there are stiletto marks in the face. We are 
told by fathers that Herodias stabbed the head with a bod- 
kin when she got it into her hand, and here are the marks 
of such an operation visible. You could almost say that you 
had seen him as he was alive, I have not seen the third 
fragment, but I can hardly doubt that is a portion of the 
same head, and that it would comprise the parts, the chin and 
the jaw, because there is no lower jaw in the front part, which 
is a mere mask. The only other claimant is Genoa, and its 
relic I have not seen. But this is exactly the portion allotted 
by Mandeville to that city. I have, however, had the satis- 
faction of personally verifying two of the relics, each of which 
comprises a third part of the head, leaving for the other re- 
mainder exactly the place which our old traveler allots to it.* 

* From Essays on Rdigion and Literature. By Yarious Writers. 
Edited by H. E. Manning, D.D. 



INDEX. 



Art. John the Baptist Id, 101, 102, 

121. 
Aramaic document, 33. 
Abraham's oak, 67-69, 82. 
Abraham the friend of God, 61-63. 
Adaptation in preaching, 211. 
Arrest of John, 289-300. 
Asceticism rebuked, 127. 
Angelic visitations, 40, 41. 
Archelaus, 34. 
Antipas, 34. 
Antipater, 34, 35. 
Annouucemeut of John's birth, 

33, 34. 

Barak and Sisera, 80. 

Baptism before partaking of Lord's 

Supper, 91. 
Baptism, nature of John's, 235- 

240. 
Baptism, mode of John's, 240-243. 
Baptism in Christian art, 222. 
Baptism of Jesus as connected 

with his temptation, 260. 
Baptism of Jesus, 244. 
Baptizer, the, 231. 
Bethany, 247. 
Bethabara, 247. 
Beecher, H. W., quoted, 50. 
Bethel 81. 
Bethlehem, 82. 
" Benedictus," 94, 95, 97-99. 
Bibliotheca Sacra quoted, 127. 
Birth-day feast of Herod, 332. 
Boldness in preaching, 214. 
Burial of John, 351, 355. 

Cable, G. W., quoted, 346. 
Camel's-hair garments, 134. 
Camp, John's first, in wilderness, 
232. 

23 



Charger, 342. 

Caligula, 350. 

Circumcision in the East, 91. 

Circumcision of John, 90. 

Children, Jewish desire for, 45, 

52. 
Childlessness a reproach, 46. 
Christ meets John in childhood, 

101. 
Christ, his eulogy of John, 323- 

331. 
Christ the *' Lamb of God," 270- 

279. 
Christ, John's threefold testimony 

to him, 264-279. 
Christian Nazaritism, 120. 
Congregation of John, 193. 
Conversion, tests of, 230. 
Conclusion, 358. 

Dancers at feasts, 338. 

Deborah. 8. 

Dove like appearance of Holy 

Spirit, 254. 
Dungeon of John, 345. 

Earnestness in preaching, 212. 

Esdraelon, 61, 80. 

Ebal, 81. 

Eleazar, 37. 

Ewell quoted, 125. 

Essenes, Jolin not of the, 128. 

Engedi wilderness, 58 

Execution of John, 342. 

Elijah, 33. 

Elijah returned to earth, 48. 

Elijah like John, 166, 172. 

Ehsabeth, 36-55, 82, 85, 99-102. 

Elisabeth visited by Mary, 82. 

Elisabeth's old age and death, 113. 

Eshcol, valley of, 65. 



370 



Index. 



Faith the chief condition of the 
new covenant, 48. 

Faith, want of, in Zacharias pun- 
ished, 49. 

Fords of Jordan, 176, 231. 

Furness, Dr., quoted, 254. 

Gabriel appears to Zacharias, 39. 
Gabriel, his announcement to 

Mary, 19. 
Greek, study of, 107. 
Geikie quoted, 132, 347. 
Gerizim, Mount, 81. 
Gilboa, Mount, 81. 
Gospel, beginning of, 176. 

Hannah's hymn of thanksgiving, 
81. 

Hannah quoted, 42, 152. 

Hair-cloth garments, 134. 

Hebron, 55. 

Hebron, description of, 61-78. 

Hebron a bishopric, 64. 

Hebron, social life in, 104. 

Hebron, mosque of, YO-78. 

Herod the Great, 34. 

Herod Antipas, 289-300. 

Herod reproved by John, 298, 333. 

Herod gives great feasts, 336. 

Herod, his birth-day feast, 332. 

Herod, his enormous wealth, 337. 

Herod, his promise and oath, 340- 
343. 

Herod commands John to be be- 
headed, 344. 

Herod fears John has risen, 359. 

Herod, his last days and death, 
359-361. 

Herodias, 291-300. 

Herodias, her hatred of John, 335. 

Herodias, her last years and death, 
359-361. 

Heaven, kingdom of, 219. 

Honey John's food, 136, 137. 

Holy Spirit like a dove, 254. 

Hypocrites, 13. 

Humility in preaching, 216. 

Isaac's birth compared with that 
of John, 53. 



Ithamar, 37. 
Incense, 38. 
Increasing and decreasing, 280- 

288. 
Independence in preaching, 214. 
Irving, Edward, quoted, 144-148, 

251. 

James the Just, 118. 

Jameson, Mrs., quoted, 90, 102. 

Jacob's dream, 81. 

Jericho, 231. 

Jerome quoted, 257. 

Jerusalem, 34, 81, 105. 

Jesus intimate with John, 103, 104. 

Jesus baptized by John, 244. 

Jesus leaves Nazareth, 248. 

Jesus, John's threefold testimony 

to him, 264-279. 
John the Baptist not made by the 
times, 11. 

a plowman, 12. 

a forerunner, 12, 15. 

a herald, 12, 15. 

controlled men, 13. 

last of his line, 14. 

personities repentance, 17. 

completeness of his ministry, 18. 

a prophet, 18, 141, 226. 

more than a prophet, 19, 20. 

a priest, 22. 

a representative of the people, 
23. 

his courage, 24. 

his humilit}^, 26. 

his liberality, 27. 

his self-abnegation, 27. 

his catholicity, 27. 

his death, 28. 

a burning and shining light, 28, 
29. 

significance of his name, 47. 

his character foretold, 47. 

liis birth, 89-102. 

date of his birth, 90. 

his circumcision, 90. 

his name, 92. 

legends of, 99-102. 

boyhood and early training, 103. 

intimate with Jesus, 103, 104. 



Index. 



371 



John the Baptist, paintings of, 101, 
102, 121. 

education of, 104. 

religious bias, 111. 

a Nazarite, 114. 

did no miracles, 161. 

his genealogy, 105. 

taught in the law, 105. 

at school, 106. 

a student of the prophets, 108. 

no politician, 108. 

in tlie wilderness, 121-132. 

not an Essene, 128, 129. 

manner of life in desert, 133- 
148. 

public ministry, 149. 

his commission, 149. 

a model preacher, 150, 210. 

leaves his retirement, 154. 

personal appearance, 163. 

hke Elijah, 166, 172. 

his congregation, 193. 

he baptizes, 231. 

baptizes Jesus, 244. 

his first camp, 232. 

threefold testimony to Jesus, 
264-279. 

a voice, 266. 

he must decrease, 280-288. 

his arrest, 289-300. 

reproves Herod, 297, 298. 

his imprisonment, 301-310. 

eulogized by Christ, 323-331. 

he is beheaded, 348. 

he is buried, 351, 355. 

his tomb, 351. 

honors to his memory, 361-364. 

in art, 362. 

his head, 363-367. 
Jordan river, 231. 
Jordan valley, 176, 231. 
Judah, 55. 

Judah, valley district of, 56. 
Judah, hill country of, 57. 
Judah, wilderness of, 58. 

Kingdom of heaven, 219. 
Kingdom, the new, 16. 
Kirjath-arba, 61. 
Kishon. 80. 



Koran quoted, 1 12. 
Knox's daughter, 334. 

Lange quoted, 95, 266, 268. 
Language spoken in Palestine, 

107. 
Locusts John's food, 135, 136. 
Luke, 33. 

Malthace, 34. 

Mariamne, 35. 

Maon, wilderness of, 58. 

Mamre, 61, 82. 

Machpelah, cave of, 62, 70-78. 

Machserus, 301-307. 

Manning, Cardinal, quoted, 367. 

Mary's "Magnificat," 81, 86, 87, 

95, 98. 
Mary, her visit to Elisabeth, 79- 

88. 
Mary visited by Gabriel, 79. 
Mendenhall quoted, 125. 
Messengers of John to Jesus, 311- 

322. 
Millman quoted, 272. 
Ministry of John, 149. 
Monasticism rebuked, 126. 
Morier quoted, 116. 

Nazareth, 79, 80, 248. 
Nazarite, 114. 

Oracles of God, 14. 

Pharisee3, 18. 

Pharisees and John, 201, 265, 283. 
Plain of Jericho, 231. 
Pantomimic dances, 338. 
Preacher, the model, 210. 
Preacher a "voice," 267. 
Pressense quoted, 110, 129, 142. 
Penick, Bishop, quoted, 93. 
People and John, 197. 
Priests, 18. 

Priests, divisions of, 37, 38. 
Priests led the people astray, 23. 
Priests, nobility of, 37. 
Priests, cities allotted to, 61. 
Prophets, ancient, 13, 15, 168, 226. 
Publicans exhorted by John, 198. 



372 



Index. 



Rachel's tomb, 82. 

Repentance, 17. 

Repentance preached by Jolm. 

184. 
Ruskin qnoted, 262. 

Schaff quoted, 95. 

Samaria, 81. 

Sarah, 64. 

Stanley, Dean, quoted, 71, 335. 

Samuel's call, 81. 

Samson like John, 99. 

Sadducees and John, 201. 

Sacritice, hour of, 38. 

Salome dances before Herod, 339. 

Salome receives a promise, 340. 

Salome, her demand, 341. 

Salome, her marriages, 359, 361. 

Salome, her death, 361. 

Smyth, Newman, quoted, 16. 

Shechem, 61. 

Sebaste, 81. 

Seclusion, religious, 127. 

Shepherd's plain, 82. 

Sisera and Barak, 80. 

Scribes, 18. 

Syriac dialect in Palestine 107. 

Simeon the Just, 118. 

Scholasticism, 108. 

Soldiers and John, 199. 

Stuart quoted, 234. 

Schubert quoted, 61. 

Tabor, Mount. 80. 

Temple rebuilt by Herod, 35, 36. 



Temple, appearance and service, 

81, 106. 
Temptation of Jesus, 260. 
Tintoret's baptism of Jesus, 262. 
Tombs of patriarchs, 72. 
Tomb of John, 351. 

Yan Oosterzee quoted, 41. 
Voice, John a, 266. 

Whedon quoted, 91, 97, 99, 120, 

234, 274, 318. 
Welsh's wife, 334. 
Writing tablet, 92. 
Wilderness, John retires to, 121- 

132. 
Wilderness, his manner of hfe in, 

133-148. 
Withrow quoted, 241. 
Wiseman quoted, 364-367. 

Xerxes and his favorite, 343. 
Xerxes and wife of Masistes, 350. 

Zacharias, 36-55. 

Zacharias, his lips unsealed, 93. 

Zacharias, his " Benedictus," 94, 

95, 97-99. 
Zacharias an example to Christ's 

parents, 97. 
Zacharias, legend of his death, 

100, 101. 
Zacharias, old age and death, 

113. 
'accheus, 199. 



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